106  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

now,  but  I  do  not  want  to  make  you  fellows  feel  ashamed  of  your- 
selves (great  applause). 

CHAIRMAN  PARKER:  Gentlemen,  you  notice  how  much  better 
tempered  Mr.  Terrace  looks  now.  If  he  had  all  of  that  on  his  mind, 
I  don't  wonder  (laughter  and  applause). 

HIGHWAY  BRIDGES 

A.  N.  JOHNSON 
State  Highway  Engineer  of  Illinois 

As  each  State  has  taken  up  the  problem  of  highway  improvement, 
there  have  been  found  conditions  and  problems  for  which  the  experi- 
ence gained  by  States  that  had  already  studied  the  problem  did  not 
offer  a  complete  solution.  Thus  it  happened  when  the  Illinois  high- 
way commission  understood  the  study  of  highway  conditions  in  Illi- 
nois, they  were  confronted  by  the  fact  that  a  very  large  proportion 
of  the  money  spent  for  road  purposes  was  for  the  construction  and 
maintenance  of  highway  bridges,  and  that  there  existed  among  the 
local  officials  a  desire  for  assistance  in  the  construction  of  these  struc- 
tures. The  policy  was  therefore  adopted  of  making  a  special  study 
of  highway  bridges. 

The  conditions  found  in  Illinois  applied  so  generally  to  a  large  num- 
ber of  States,  and  the  work  of  the  Illinois  highway  commission  in 
assisting  and  directing  the  construction  of  highway  bridges  proved 
of  such  benefit,  that  much  attention  has  been  attracted  to  this  branch 
of  highway  work. 

The  wide  spread  interest  aroused,  and  the  importance  of  highway 
bridges  are  readily  understood,  when  we  consider  for  a  moment  that 
the  bridges  are  the  essential  links  connecting  many  sections  of  road 
which  would  otherwise  be  absolutely  useless.  There  are  now  in  all 
sections  of  the  country  wide  areas  well  traversed  by  roads  which  are 
much  used,  and  over  which  practically  all  descriptions  of  country 
highway  traffic  pass.  The  mileage  of  such  roads  is  so  great  as  to 
preclude  the  immediate  realization  of  their  being  covered  with  an 
improved,  durable  road  surface.  But  in  the  meantime  the  use  of 
these  roads  is  such  as  to  demand  at  present  a  class  of  highway  bridges 
practically  the  same  as  would  be  demanded  were  these  roads  improved. 
Therefore,  we  find  that  the  standard  that  should  be  adopted  for  high- 


HIGHWAY  BRIDGES  107 

way  bridges  is  necessarily  considerably  in  advance  of  the  standard  of 
road  surface  in  the  immediate  vicinity;  and  that  in  fact  the  character 
of  the  bridge  required  is  practically  independent  of  the  nature  of 
the  road  surface  leading  to  it. 

The  first  consideration  in  the  construction  of  a  bridge  is  the  public 
safety,  and  its  cost  must  be  subservient  to  this  requirement.  The 
engineer  far  better  rest  under  the  criticism  that  he  designed  a  bridge 
heavier  than  immediate  needs  may  require,  than  to  shoulder  the 
responsibility  of  loss  of  life  through  an  attempt  to  economize  in  the 
first  cost  of  the  structure. 

The  number  of  bridges  in  use  on  our  highways  today  in  the  well 
watered  areas  of  the  country  makes  their  cost  and  maintenance  a 
very  large  proportion  of  the  amount  that  is  raised  by  the  taxpayers 
for  expenditure  upon  the  highway,  and  while  exact  data  are  lacking 
to  show  the  precise  amount  relatively  spent  upon  roads  and  bridges, 
it  can  be  said  in  general  that  in  those  sections  of  the  country  where  a 
majority  of  the  roads  is  unimproved  that  the  bridge  expenditure  will 
average  from  three-tenths  to  one-half  the  total  amount  raised  for 
road  and  bridge  work. 

It  is  evident  that  the  more  that  is  spent  upon  the  roads  proper  and 
the  higher  the  cost  and  standard  of  road  surface  maintained  in  a  com- 
munity the  less  in  proportion  will  be  the  bridge  cost.  And  it  is  a 
fact  that  the  States  first  taking  up  the  question  of  road  improvement 
were  those  where  a  greater  proportion  of  money  was  spent  on  the  road 
surface.  Thus  the  cost  of  the  bridges  appeared  relatively  less,  and 
did  not  present  so  large  a  portion  of  the  road  problem  as  has  been 
the  case  with  many  States  subsequently  taking  up  highway  work 
where  a  great  majority  of  the  roads  are  earth  roads,  on  which  but  small 
sums  per  mile  have  been  spent. 

When  the  attention  of  various  State  highway  commissions  was 
turned  to  a  study  of  the  highway  bridges,  it  seemed  to  be  almost 
universally  noted  that  a  vast  majority  of  the  structures  now  in  use 
were  poorly  designed;  at  least  a  vast  majority  of  the  structures  have 
been  found  to  be  inadequate  to  modern  traffic  conditions.  Compara- 
tively few  structures  have  been  erected  under  proper  specifications 
and  design.  In  a  majority  of  instances  no  engineer  whatever  had  been 
retained  by  the  local  authorities  putting  up  the  various  structures. 

In  general  the  most  adverse  conditions  were  imposed,  and  the 
limited  funds  have  made  necessary  the  erection  of  the  least  expensive 
bridge  possible.  Through  lack  of  funds,  through  competition,  and 


AGRIC.  DEPT, 


PAPERS, 
ADDRESSES  AND  RESOLUTIONS 


BEFORE  THE 


AMERICAN 
ROAD  CONGRESS 


PRICE  SI. 00  TO 


RICHMOND,  VIRGINIA 

NOVEMBER  20-23,    1911 


PAPERS, 
ADDRESSES  AND  RESOLUTIONS 


BEFORE  THE 


AMERICAN 
ROAD  CONGRESS 


RICHMOND,  VIRGINIA 

NOVEMBER  20-23,    1911 


COPYRIGHT  1912 
BY 

AMERICAN  ASSOCIATION  FOR  HIGHWAY  IMPROVEMENT. 


*?  **• 

*2  *      7 


COMPOSED   AND   PRINTED   AT  THE 

WAVERLY   PRESS 

BY  THE  WILLIAMS  &  WILKINS  COMPANY 

BALTIMORE,  U.  S.  A. 


AMERICAN  ASSOCIATION  FOE  HIGHWAY 
IMPROVEMENT 

COLORADO  BUILDING,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

OFFICERS 

L.  W.  PAGE,  Ptesident 
Director,  United  States  Office  of  Public  Roads 

W.  C.  BROWN,  Vice-President 
President,  New  York  Central  Lines 

LEE  McCLUNG,  Treasurer 
Treasurer  of  the  United  States 

JAMES  S.  HARLAN,  Chairman,  Board  of  Directors 
Member,  Interstate  Commerce  Commission 

J.  E.  PENNYB ACKER,  JR.,  Secretary 
CHARLES  P.  LIGHT,  Field  Secretary 

Board  of  Directors 

MR.  JAMES  S.  HARLAN,  Chairman,  Member  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 

MR.  L.  W.  PAGE,  Director,  U.  S.  Office  of  Public  Roads. 

MR.  W.  C.  BROWN,  President,  New  York  Central  Lines. 

MR.  W.  W.  FINLEY,  President,  Southern  Railway  Company. 

MR.  LEE  McCLUNG,  Treasurer  of  the  United  States. 

MR.  L.  E.  JOHNSON,  President,  Norfolk  &  Western  Railway  Company. 

MR.  ALFRED  NOBLE,  Past  President,  American  Society  of  Civil  Engineers. 

MR.  B.  F.  YOAKUM,  Chairman,  Frisco  Lines. 

MR.  ARCHIBALD  H.  HUSTON,  President,  Ohio  Good  Roads  Federation, 

MR.  WALTER  H.  PAGE,  Editor,  World's  Work. 

MR.  LEONARD  TUFTS,  President,  Capital  Highway  Association. 

MR.  W.  T.  BEATTY,  President,  National  Association  of  Road  Material  and 

Machinery  Manufacturers. 

GEN.  COLEMAN  DU  PONT,  of  Wilmington,  Delaware. 
MR.  JOHN  J.  DUFF,  of  Washington,  D.  C. 

MR.  J.  HAMPTON  MOORE,  Member  of  Congress  from  Pennsylvania. 
MR.  JOHN  M.  GOODELL,  Editor,  Engineering  Record. 
DR.  E.  J.  JAMES,  President,  University  of  Illinois. 
MR.  GEORGE  C.  DIEHL,  Chairman,  Good  Roads  Board,  American  Automobile 

Association. 

MR.  THOMAS  G.  NORRIS,  President,  Arizona  Good  Roads  Association. 
MR.  BRYAN  LATHROP,  Member  Lincoln  Park  Commission,  Chicago,  Illinois. 
MR.  JOSEPH  W.  JONES,  of  New  York  City. 


MR.  A.  G.  SPALDING,  Member  San  Diego  Highway  Commission. 

MR.  JOHN  B.  THAYER,  Vice-President,  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company. 

MR.  LEWIS  W.  PARKER,  President,  South  Carolina  Cotton  Manufacturers' 

Association,  Greenville,  South  Carolina. 
MR.  JESSE  TAYLOR,  Secretary,  Ohio  Good  Roads  Federation. 

Executive  Committee 

MR.  W.  W.  FINLEY,  Chairman.  MR.  L.  W.  PAGE. 

MR.  ALFRED  NOBLE.  MR.  ARCHIBALD  H.  HUSTON. 

MR.  B.  F.  YOAKUM. 

Committee  on  Membership 

MR.  THOMAS  NELSON  PAGE,  Chairman.   MR.  J.  HAMPTON  MOORE. 

JUDGE  HUGH  C.  GILBERT.  MR.  JOHN  J.  DUFF. 

MR.  GEORGE  W.  WATTS.  MR.  JOHN  M.  GOODELL. 

COL.  BENEHAN  CAMERON.  MR.  JOSEPH  W.  JONES. 

MR.  HENRY  FISHER.  MR.  GEORGE  C.  DIEHL. 

MR.  JOSEPH  T.  STOKELY.  MR.  BRYAN  LATHROP. 

MR.  HENRY  C.  STUART.  DR.  E.  J.  JAMES. 

MR.  HOWARD  SUTHERLAND.  MR.  THOMAS  G.  NORRIS. 

DR.  WALTER  H.  PAGE.  MB.  W.  T.  BEATTY. 

Finance  Committee 

MR.  LEE  MCCLUNG,  Chairman.  MR.  JAMES  S.  HARLAN. 

MR.  L.  E.  JOHNSON.  GEN.  COLEMAN  DU  PONT. 

MR.  LEONARD  TUFTS.  CAPT.  D.  L.  HOUGH. 

MR.  JOHN  B.  THAYER. 


CONTENTS 

Officers  and  Directors 1 

Committees 2 

Proclamation  by  Governor  of  Virginia 5 

National  Day,  First  American  Road  Congress 7 

Telegram  from  President  Taf t 10 

Good  Roads  and  the  Farmer 11 

Good  Roads  and  Waterways 16 

The  Road  through  Delaware 24 

Highway  Engineers  and  Contractors'  Day 31 

Stone  and  Gravel  Roads 32 

Earth  and  Sand-Clay  Roads 44 

Bituminous  Roads 50 

Road  Costs  and  Maintenance 58 

The  Relation  between  Engineers  and  Contractors  on  Highway  Work 70 

The  Contractor  in  Road  Work 78 

Highway  Bridges 106 

Road  Users'  Day 114 

Address  of  Welcome  by  Preston  Belvin 114 

Motor  Traffic  Regulation  in  Massachusetts 117 

Traffic  Rules  and  Regulations 128 

Relation  of  the  Automobile  Industry  to  the  Good  Roads  Movement 142 

A  Model  State  Vehicle  Law 149 

The  Motor  Vehicle  Law  of  Connecticut 162 

Relation  of  Motor  Vehicle  Laws  to  Good  Roads 171 

Louisiana  Highways 177 

The  Virginia  Convict  Labor  Law 181 

Resolutions  as  Presented  and  Passed  by  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  of 

the  American  Road  Congress 187 

Treasurer's  Statement 191 

Secretary's  Statement 191 


It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  adequate  verbatim  reports  of  the 
very  able  extemporaneous  addresses  by  Governor  Wm.  H.  Mann, 
of  Virginia,  United  States  Senators  Thomas  S.  Martin,  Claude  A. 
Swanson  and  John  H.  Bankhead,  Hon.  James  Wilson,  Secretary  of 
Agriculture,  Hon.  John  Lamb,  Chairman,  Committee  on  Agricul- 
ture, U.  S.  House  of  Representatives,  Dr.  Walter  H.  Page,  Colonel 
Charles  Clifton,  of  New  York,  and  Dr.  Jos.  Hyde  Pratt,  State 
Geologist  of  North  Carolina,  are  not  available,  and  that  lack  of 
space  forbids  the  publication  of  many  short  addresses  by  distin- 
guished speakers. 


AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

COMMONWEALTH  OF  VIRGINIA 

PROCLAMATION  BY  THE  GOVERNOR 
GOOD  ROADS  WEEK 

WHEREAS,  the  AMERICAN  ASSOCIATION  FOR  HIGHWAY  IMPROVJE- 
MENT  and  affiliated  organizations  have  elected  to  hold  their  jTiBBT 
ANNUAL  ROAD  CONGRESS  in  the  city  of  Richmond,  on  November 
twentieth  to  twenty-third,  nineteen  hundred  and  eleven,  for  the 
purpose  of  bringing  to  the  solution  of  the  many  difficult  problems 
connected  with  the  improvement  of  the  public  roads  the  combined 
knowledge  and  experience  of  the  men  who  have  devoted  themselves 
to  a  study  of  this  important  question ;  and 

WHEREAS,  the  President  of  the  United  States  will  be  our  honored 
guest  and  will  address  the  Congress  upon  that  important  occasion; 
and 

WHEREAS,  the  improvement  of  the  public  roads  throughout  Vir- 
ginia, and  their  proper  care  and  maintenance,  will  result  in  greatly 
increased  prosperity  and  add  immeasurably  to  the  welfare  of  our 
people; 

THEREFORE,  I,  WILLIAM  HODGES  MANN,  Governor  of  Virginia, 
do  hereby  earnestly  request  the  people  of  this  Commonwealth,  and 
especially  those  charged  with  the  management  of  our  public  roads, 
to  attend  and  participate  in  the  American  Road  Congress  herein- 
before mentioned. 

I  furthermore  urge  upon  all  civic  organizations,  public  schools, 
churches,  the  press,  and  all  other  agencies  within  this  Common- 
wealth that  serve  to  promote  human  welfare  to  set  apart  the  week 
beginning  November  thirteenth,  nineteen  hundred  and  eleven,  which 
immediately  precedes  the  Congress,  as  "GooD  ROADS  WEEK,"  and 
during  that  period  to  devote  their  united  efforts  to  a  furtherance 
of  the  movement  for  better  roads,  and  particulary  to  the  accomplish- 
ment of  some  practical  result  within  the  zone  of  their  influence. 

5 


6  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

Given  under  my  hand  and  the  lesser  seal  of  the  Commonwealth 
at  the  Capitol,  in  Richmond,  this  first  day  of  November,  nineteen 
hundred  and  eleven,  and  in  the  one  hundred  and  thirty-sixth  year 
of  the  Commonwealth. 

WM.  HODGES  MANN, 

Governor. 
By  the  Governor. 
B.  0.  JAMES, 
Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth. 


FIRST  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 
NATIONAL,  DAY 

Monday,  November  20,  1911 

Morning  Session,  9:30  o'clock 

Prayer,  Rev.  Russell  Cecil,  D.D. 

Address  of  Welcome  by  the  Governor  of  Virginia. 

Address  of  Welcome  by  the  Mayor  of  Richmond. 

Response  by  Logan  Waller  Page,  President,  American  Associa- 
tion for  Highway  Improvement: 

On  behalf  of  the  American  Association  for  Highway  Improvement, 
the  various  affiliated  organizations  and  the  delegates  participating 
in  the  holding  of  this  American  Road  Congress,  I  desire  to  express 
our  high  appreciation  of  the  courtesy  and  hospitality  extended  to 
us  all  by  the  people  of  this  delightful  city  of  Richmond  and  the 
grand  old  Commonwealth  of  Virginia.  It  is  eminently  fitting  that 
we  should  assemble  here,  where  early  American  history  was  made, 
to  launch  a  great  united  movement,  as  important  in  an  economic 
and  industrial  sense  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  as  the  great 
work  of  the  master  minds  in  statesmanship  and  war  in  laying  the 
foundations  of  our  government. 

One  year  ago,  there  assembled  in  the  city  of  Washington  a  small 
body  of  men  who  were  earnest  in  their  conviction  that  the  time  had 
come  when  all  of  the  agencies  striving  for  the  common  cause  of  road 
improvement  should  work  together,  to  the  end  that  there  should  be 
no  more  playing  at  cross  purposes;  that  the  experience  of  each  and 
every  organization  should  be  utilized  as  a  guide  to  the  work  of  each 
and  every  other  organization,  and  that  in  the  consideration  of  plans 
and  policies  which  were  too  broad  to  be  determined  by  any  single 
State  organization,  there  should  be  a  way  by  which  the  interested 
parties  could  come  together  and  consider  them,  and,  finally,  that 

7 


8  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

the  entire  movement  for  better  roads  should  be  so  systematized  and 
everywhere  placed  on  so  high  a  plane  of  honest  and  earnest  effort 
that  the  cheap  charlatanism  of  the  professional  promoter  and  the 
bungling  efforts  of  the  well-meaning  but  uninformed  citizen  should 
be  no  longer  permitted. 

These  were  the  conditions  and  the  needs  which  prompted  the 
formation  of  the  American  Association  for  Highway  Improvement. 
Its  organization  was  no  reflection  upon  the  good  intent  or  the  effici- 
ency of  existing  associations.  In  fact,  it  was  the  announced  intention 
of  the  men  who  were  responsible  for  the  forming  of  this  Association 
that  this  work  should  be  done  as  far  as  possible  through  the  organi- 
zations already  existing. 

I  venture  the  assertion  that  it  would  be  necessary  to  travel  far 
and  wide  to  find  a  man  who  is  deliberately  opposed  to  road  improve- 
ment. If  it  were  only  necessary  to  convince  the  people  of  the  value 
of  a  good  road,  our  labors  would  be  superfluous.  The  difficulty 
begins  when  we  attempt  to  convince  the  unprogressive  man  and  the 
pessimist  that  a  good  road  is  so  good  that  it  is  worth  paying  for,  and 
we  have  still  more  difficulty  before  us  when  we  endeavor  to  show  him 
how  he  should  go  about  obtaining  a  good  road. 

Governor  Sanders,  of  Louisiana,  in  addressing  a  road  convention 
in  his  State,  said  that  his  people  had  wished  for  good  roads,  but 
they  did  not  come;  that  they  had  prayed  for  good  roads,  and  still 
they  did  not  come;  and  finally,  they  had  paid  for  good  roads, and 
then  they  got  them.  It  is  necessary  that  a  thorough  campaign  of 
education  be  conducted  in  every  locality  where  the  burden  of  bad 
roads  hangs  like  a  millstone  about  the  necks  of  the  people.  The 
glory  of  the  crusades  have  given  to  posterity  the  names  of  Richard 
the  Lion  Heart  and  Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  but  it  was  the  lowly  Peter 
the  Hermit  preaching  at  every  cross  road  that  fired  the  martial 
ardor  of  Christian  Europe. 

In  this  campaign  of  education,  three  things  are  essential:  first, 
that  your  work  must  have  a  definite  object;  second,  that  your  plans 
must  be  practicable;  and,  third,  that  they  must  have  intrinsic  merit. 

In  launching  the  American  Association  for  Highway  Improvement, 
we  endeavored  to  fulfill  these  three  requirements  by  the  announce- 
ment of  definite  purposes  easily  capable  of  accomplishment,  and  con- 
taining such  intrinsic  merit  that  their  general  adoption  would  place 
road  conditions  in  this  country  on  a  sound  and  economic  basis.  We 
hope  that  every  organization  affiliated  with  the  Association  will 


NATIONAL    DAY  9 

follow  the  same  lines,  adapting  them  to  local  conditions,  thereby  ren- 
dering the  campaign  uniform  and  nation-wide.  These  purposes  are : 

"To  correlate  and  harmonize  the  efforts  of  all  existing  organiza- 
tions working  for  road  improvement. 

"To  arouse  and  stimulate  sentiment  for  road  improvement. 

"To  strive  for  wise,  equitable  and  uniform  road  legislation  in 
every  State. 

"To  aid  in  bringing  about  efficient  road  administration  in  the 
states  and  their  subdivisions,  involving  the  introduction  of  skilled 
supervision  and  the  elimination  of  politics  form  the  management 
of  the  public  roads. 

"To  seek  continuous  and  systematic  maintenance  of  all  roads, 
the  classification  of  all  roads  according  to  traffic  requirements,  pay- 
ment of  road  taxes  in  cash,  and  adoption  of  the  principle  of  state 
aid  and  state  supervision. 

"To  advocate  the  correlation  of  all  road  construction  so  that  the 
important  roads  of  each  county  shall  connect  with  those  of  the  ad- 
joining counties  and  the  important  roads  of  each  state  shall  connect 
with  those  of  adjoining  States." 

Officials  of  thirty  State  and  inter-State  organizations  have  now 
joined  hands  with  the  Association,  and  splendid  support  has  been 
given  to  the  work  by  the  press,  so  that  the  great  movement,  which 
has  reached  its  first  year's  culmination  in  this  memorable  Congress, 
has  been  made  known  to  the  public  from  coast  to  coast. 

I  desire  especially  to  make  mention  of  the  loyal  and  broad  spirited 
support  given  this  movement  by  the  railroad  companies.  It  is 
immaterial  whether  they  are  actuated  by  wise  business  foresight 
or  whether  they  have  the  welfare  of  the  people  along  the  respective 
lines  solely  at  heart :  the  fact  remains  that  they  are  doing  a  work 
which  benefits  every  man,  woman  atid  child  within  the  zone  of  their 
influence,  and  full  credit  should  be  given  to  them  for  it. 

The  problems  of  road  construction  and  maintenance  will  later 
on  be  dealt  with  in  a  most  thorough  manner  by  the  leading  highway 
engineers  of  this  country,  and  it  is  scarcely  within  my  province  to 
go  into  a  technical  discussion  at  this  time,  but  I  shall  not  let  the 
opportunity  pass  to  say  a  word  to  you  about  what  appears  to  me 
to  be  the  most  important  subject  in  connection  with  the  whole 
question  of  road  improvement,  namely,  maintenance. 

The  people  in  many  counties  are  filled  with  enthusiasm  for  road 
improvement,  and  are  hastening  to  spend  enormous  sums  of  money 


10  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

in  the  construction  of  superb  roads,  and  yet  almost  without  excep- 
tion, they  are  making  no  provision  to  care  for  the  roads  after  they 
are  built.  The  same  holds  true  with  reference  to  road  construction 
under  many  of  our  state  highway  departments.  Right  here  in 
Virginia,  your  State  highway  commissioner  is  constantly  urging  and 
almost  pleading  for  some  provision  looking  to  the  maintenance  of 
the  fine  roads  which  he  has  built  and  is  building.  To  maintain  the 
roads  in  good  condition  year  after  year  requires  a  considerable  annual 
outlay,  but  this  outlay  is  infinitely  less  than  the  loss  which  must 
fall  upon  the  people  eventually  if  they  allow  their  roads  to  go  to  utter 
ruin.  Provide  continuous,  systematic  maintenance  and  set  aside 
every  year  an  amount  per  mile  estimated  by  the  engineer  in  charge 
to  be  sufficient  for  the  proper  maintenance  of  the  road,  and  you 
will  follow  a  course  which  must  make  for  economy  and  efficiency. 

Mr.  Page  here  read  the  following: 

TELEGRAM  FROM  THE  HONORABLE  WILLIAM  H.  TAFT, 
PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

THE  WHITE  HOUSE,  Washington,  D.  C. 

November  19,  1911. 
L.  W.  PAGE, 

President  American  Association  for  Highway  Improvement : 

I  have  had  a  cold  for  a  week  since  I  returned  from  my  trip,  and  have 
spent  the  last  forty-eight  hours  in  the  house,  with  the  hope  of  being 
able,  without  risk,  to  go  to  Richmond  tomorrow.  I  have  been  looking 
forward  to  taking  part  in  the  Good  Roads  convention  with  a  great 
deal  of  pleasure,  because  I  am  in  full  sympathy  with  the  move- 
ment that  is  gaining  strength  in  every  State  and  in  the  nation  for 
the  promotion  of  the  construction  of  permanent  good  roads.  The 
effect  that  they  will  have  in  increasing  the  value  of  farms,  in  making 
the  lives  of  farmers  and  their  families  much  more  full  of  comfort,  and 
in  the  general  benefit  conferred  by  greater  ease  of  intercommunica- 
tion the  country  over,  can  not  be  exaggerated.  I  wish  that  I  could 
be  present  to  utter  my  word  of  approval  and  encouragement,  but  I 
feel  that  the  trip  as  planned  is  one  which  would  involve  more  risk 
than  I  ought  to  incur  in  my  present  condition.  I  have  postponed 
this  announcement  until  now,  with  the  hope  that  I  might  avoid  making 
it.  The  pleasure  of  receiving  the  hospitality  of  Richmond,  which  has 


GOOD  ROADS  AND  THE  FARMER  11 

been  mine  at  least  twice,  lingers  long  in  my  memory,  and  makes  me 
deeply  regretful  that  I  must  deny  myself  now  the  enjoyment  of  the 
trip. 

WM.  H.  TAFT. 

GOOD  ROADS  AND  THE  FARMER 

BY  W.  W.  FINLEY 
President  Southern  Railway  Company 

In  considering  the  matter  of  highway  improvement  under  the 
topic  assigned  to  me — "Good  Roads  and  the  Farmer" —  we  are  not 
taking  a  narrow  view  of  the  subject,  for  we  are  all  directly  and  vitally 
interested  in  the  development  of  agriculture  in  the  United  States. 

We  must  rely  upon  the  farmer  for  by  far  the  greater  part  of  our 
food  supply  and  for  most  of  the  materials  for  our  clothing.  We  no 
longer  have  vast  areas  of  unoccupied  farm  lands  in  the  West.  The 
constant  growth  of  our  cities  and  towns  results  in  a  steady  increase 
in  the  demand  for  everything  produced  on  the  farm.  This  increased 
demand  must  be  supplied,  to  a  greater  extent  than  ever  before,  by 
increasing  the  average  production  per  acre  and  bringing  under  culti- 
vation or  devoting  to  pasturage  lands  in  our  older  States  that  are 
now  lying  idle.  The  problem  of  increasing  the  productiveness  of 
our  soils  is  being  successfully  solved  by  our  progressive  farmers, 
aided  by  the  scientific  experts  of  the  United  States  Agricultural  Depart- 
ment, the  State  departments  of  agriculture,  and  our  agricultural 
colleges.  There  has  been  more  real  agricultural  progress  in  the  gen- 
eration in  which  we  are  living  than  in  any  other  period  of  equal 
duration  since  the  dawn  of  history.  This  is  to  the  advantage  of  those 
of  us  who  live  in  cities  and  towns  as  well  as  of  the  farmers,  and  our 
self-interest  impels  us  to  support  every  movement  tending  to  economy 
in  farm  operations  and  to  larger  agricultural  production,  for  it  is  only 
by  these  means  that  the  profitableness  of  farm  operations  can  be 
maintained  and  increased  without,  at  the  same  time,  unduly  advanc- 
ing the  prices  which  we  must  pay.  Not  the  least  important  of  the 
factors  tending  to  bring  about  this  condition  will  be  improved  country 
highways.  They  will  directly  and  materially  reduce  the  cost  of 
haulage,  enable  farmers  to  market  their  products  more  advantageously, 
and,  by  adding  to  the  attractiveness  of  country  life,  will  tend  to  check 
the  flow  of  population  into  the  cities  and  towns  and  accelerate  the 
movement  "  back  to  the  farm. " 


12  AMERICAN   ROAD   CONGRESS 

Bearing  in  mind  our  universal  dependence  upon  the  farmer  and  the 
importance  of  good  country  highways  as  a  factor  in  agricultural  devel- 
opment, I  believe  we  should,  at  this  time,  look  upon  the  road  improve- 
ment problem  as  one  primarily  concerning  the  farmer.  His  interest 
should  be  recognized  in  the  formulation  of  all  plans  for  the  construc- 
tion, maintenance,  and  regulation  of  the  country  highway.  More 
especially  this  should  apply  to  the  selection  of  the  roads  which  are 
to  be  first  improved. 

We  have  in  the  United  States  about  2,200,000  miles  of  country 
highways  of  which  only  about  200,000  miles  had  been  improved  in 
1909,  the  latest  year  for  which  complete  figures  are  available,  leaving 
approximately  2,000,000  miles  unimproved.  Hon.  L.  W.  Page,  direc- 
tor of  the  Office  of  Public  Roads  in  the  United  States  Department  of 
Agriculture,  and  the  honored  president  of  the  American  Association 
for  Highway  Improvement,  has  kindly  supplied  me  with  detailed 
data  as  to  the  progress  of  road  improvement  in  the  counties  traversed 
by  the  lines  of  the  Southern  Railway  Company.  His  figures  show 
that  these  counties  contain  a  total  of  176,725  miles  of  county  roads. 
Of  this  total  10,321  miles,  or  5.84  per  cent,  had  been  improved  in  1904. 
In  1909,  15,298  miles  or  8.65  per  cent,  had  been  improved.  In  1904, 
the  road  expenditures  in  these  counties  amounted  to  $5,749,829.  In 
the  current  calendar  year,  they  will  amount  to  approximately  $1 1,500,- 
000.  Assuming  that  the  mileage  improved  since  1909  has  been  as 
great  as  that  improved  from  1904  to  1909,  there  are  still  about  150,000 
miles  of  unimproved  country  roads  in  those  counties.  Similar  condi- 
tions are  found  in  many  other  parts  of  the  United  States,  and  it  is 
obvious  that  the  task  before  us  is  so  great  that  all  of  the  unimproved 
roads  can  not  be  improved  at  once.  Each  community  must  decide 
which  of  its  roads  shall  have  attention  first. 

Broadly  speaking,  country  highways  may  be  divided  into  two  gen- 
eral classes — those  which  may  be  denominated  trunk  lines,  running  for 
long  distances  and  connecting  the  cities  and  towns  along  their  routes, 
and  those  which  radiate  from  a  market  town  or  shipping  station. 
The  first  of  these  classes— the  trunk  line  highways,  afford  ideal  routes 
for  tourists.  There  are  some  localities  especially  those  most  fre- 
quented by  tourists,  where  the  construction  of  trunk  line  highways 
of  this  class  is  highly  desirable  and  their  improvement  necessarily 
benefits  the  farmers  adjacent  to  them.  At  the  risk,  however,  of  seem- 
ing to  be  actuated  by  the  interest  of  the  railways,  I  have  no  hesitation 
in  saying  that,  if  the  greatest  good  is  to  be  done  to  the  greatest  numbers, 


GOOD  ROADS  AND  THE  FARMER  13 

the  farmer  is  more  interested  in  the  improvement  of  the  roads  of  the 
second  class  which  I  have  mentioned — those  radiating  from  a  market 
town  or  shipping  station.  By  giving  attention,  first,  to  those  parts 
of  these  roads  immediately  adjacent  to  the  towns  and  shipping  stations 
and  extending  improvements  out  into  the  country  year  after  year  as 
funds  may  become  available,  entire  regions  will,  in  time,  be  traversed 
by  networks  of  good  roads.  Then,  by  connecting  up  adjoining  sys- 
tems of  these  radiating  roads,  trunk  lines  and  through  roads  for  tourists 
will  ultimately  be  formed. 

The  improvement  of  these  radiating  roads  will  be  beneficial  not 
only  to  the  farmer,  but  also  to  a  large  proportion  of  the  dwellers  in 
cities  and  towns.  They  will  enlarge  the  trade  of  retail  merchants, 
facilitate  the  work  of  rural  mail  carriers  and  extend  the  limits  within 
which  local  newspapers  can  be  circulated  on  the  day  of  publication. 

Manufacturers  and  users  of  automobiles  have  given  a  great  impetus 
to  the  movement  for  the  improvement  of  the  country  highways  of 
the  United  States.  By  devoting  their  time  and  money  to  this  work, 
they  have  earned  the  gratitude  of  the  American  people,  and  I  believe 
that,  in  considering  plans  for  road  improvement,  their  interests  should 
be  considered,  as  well  as  the  paramount  interests  of  the  farmers. 

There  has  been  for  years  an  increasing  demand  for  these  vehicles 
from  residents  of  cities  who  use  them  for  pleasure  and  business.  The 
extent  to  which  this  has  grown  is  shown  by  statistics  compiled  by  the 
United  States  Census  Bureau  for  the  year  1909,  showing  that  in  that 
year  a  total  of  127,289  automobiles,  valued  at  $165,115,100,  were 
manufactured,  as  compared  with  22,830,  valued  at  $24,630,400,  in 
1904,  an  increase  of  485  per  cent,  in  the  annual  number  manufactured 
in  five  years,  while  in  the  same  period  there  was  a  decrease  of  12  per 
cent,  in  the  number  of  carriages  manufactured  in  the  United  States. 
It  may  be  that,  in  view  of  the  large  extent  to  which  passenger  auto- 
mobiles are  now  used  in  cities  and  towns,  a  large  proportion  of  the 
demand  in  this  field  in  the  near  future  will  be  for  replacement  and  for 
improved  models.  We  find  many  of  the  manufacturers  now  giving 
increased  attention  to  the  development  of  efficient  motor  trucks, 
wagons,  fire  engines,  ambulances,  and  patrol  wagons,  and  these  vehi- 
cles are  rapidly  displacing  those  drawn  by  horses  in  our  city  streets. 

Motor  vehicles  and  traction  engines  are  already  used  to  a  consider- 
able extent  by  farmers  in  some  localities.  Looking  back  over  the 
comparatively  few  years  since  the  establishment  of  the  industry  and 
noting  the  improvement  that  have  been  made  in  the  motors  and  the 


14  AMERICAN   ROAD    CONGRESS 

large  numbers  of  special  designs  of  vehicles  that  have  been  produced 
we  may  feel  sure  that  the  manufacturers  will  meet  the  growing  demand 
of  the  farmers  by  supplying  whatever  special  types  may  be  required. 
As  an  illustration  of  the  way  in  which  practical  farmers  are  looking 
at  this  matter,  I  may  mention  that,  within  the  past  week,  a  man  who 
contemplates  buying  a  large  farm  in  a  region  traversed  by  the  South- 
ern Railway  told  a  representative  of  our  company  that  he  was  con- 
templating a  location  about  fifteen  miles  back  from  a  railway  station. 
He  said  that  the  distance  made  no  difference  to  him  as  the  road  was 
good  and  he  proposed  to  do  all  of  his  hauling  with  a  motor  truck. 
What  this  farmer  proposes  to  do  will  be  done  by  many  other  farmers  as 
the  country  highways  are  improved,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  the 
annual  addition  to  our  good  roads  mileage  will  result  in  corresponding 
increases  in  the  agricultural  use  of  motor  vehicles. 

Therefore,  I  do  not  believe  that  in  advocating  the  improvement  of 
radiating  roads  rather  than  of  trunk  line  highways,  I  am  opposing  the 
ultimate  interests  of  the  users  and  manufacturers  of  motor  vehicles. 
In  fact,  I  believe  that,  in  the  near  future,  the  manufacturers  must 
look  to  our  farmers  for  their  largest  opportunity  for  the  extension  of 
their  sales. 

Others  who  will  address  this  cbngress  are  better  qualified  than  I 
to  give  advice  as  to  the  types  of  good  roads  to  be  constructed  and  as 
to  the  best  methods  of  road  maintenance  and  management.  I  cannot 
refrain  from  saying,  however  that  I  believe  that  every  one  here  who 
has  seen  the  beautiful  tree-lined  roads  of  France  will  agree  with  me 
as  to  the  desirability  of  planting  trees  by  the  roadside  wherever  this 
can  be  done  without  being  disadvantageous.  I  know  that  a  tree 
shading  the  ordinary  dirt  road  is  detrimental,  as  it  retards  the  drying 
up  of  the  mud  after  severe  rain  storms.  I  am  advised,  however,  that 
shade  is  not  detrimental  to  a  macadam  road,  but  is  beneficial  to  it, 
and  all  of  us  who  have  traveled  over  our  country  roads  in  the  heat  of 
midsummer  can  realize  how  grateful  to  both  man  and  beast  would 
be  a  row  of  shade  trees  on  each  side  of  the  road. 

I  believe,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  highway 
improvement  in  the  United  States  sometimes  seem  to  be  greater  than 
they  really  are.  When  we  look  at  the  work  in  its  nation-wide  entirety 
and  think  of  our  2,000,000  miles  of  unimproved  roads,  the  task  ahead 
of  us  seems  to  be  so  great  as  to  be  almost  impossible  of  accomplish- 
ment, but  the  good  roads  problem  while  it  is  national  in  a  sense,  can 
be  solved  only  by  the  solution  of  the  vast  number  of  local  problems 


GOOD  ROADS  AND  THE  FARMER  15 

which  go  to  make  it  up.  The  immense  task  involved  in  dealing  with 
2,000,000  miles  of  roads  resolves  itself  into  a  large  number  of  rela- 
tively small  tasks,  no  one  of  which  is  impossible  of  accomplishment. 
The  total  highway  mileage  classed  as  unimproved  includes,  of  course, 
a  large  number  of  roads  which  are  so  little  used  that  their  improvement 
can  be  postponed  almost  indefinitely.  It  includes  other  roads  which 
can  be  maintained  in  a  passable  condition  at  relatively  little  cost  and 
on  which  there  is  no  immediate  necessity  for  making  expensive 
improvements.  Taking  these  conditions  into  consideration  and  begin- 
ning first  with  the  radiating  roads  to  which  I  have  referred,  I  believe 
that  it  will  be  possible  for  us,  within  relatively  a  few  years,  to  have  a 
system  of  improved  country  highways  in  the  United  States  which  will 
be  of  almost  incalculable  benefit  to  our  farmers,  and  that  we  shall 
all  share  from  the  advantages  of  the  higher  agricultural  development 
which  will  follow. 

Within  the  past  few  years  a  large  amount  of  educational  work  as 
to  the  advantages  of  good  roads  has  been  carried  on  in  the  United 
States.  This  has  been  participated  in  by  the  Good  Roads  Office  of 
the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  by  the  several  States, 
the  newspapers  and  the  railways.  The  railway  company  which  I 
have  the  honor  to  represent  has  contributed  to  this  educational  cam- 
paign by  the  running  of  good  roads  trains  over  its  lines,  by  the  distribu- 
tion of  literature,  by  encouraging  the  organization  of  good  roads 
associations  in  the  territory  which  it  traverses.  As  a  result  of  this 
work  it  is  no  longer  necessary  to  talk  to  the  American  people  about 
the  advantages  of  good  roads.  What  is  now  needed  is  to  direct  the 
public  sentiment  in  favor  of  their  construction  along  the  most  intelli- 
gent lines  by  supplying  helpful  advice  and  information.  This  is  one 
of  the  objects  of  the  American  Association  for  Highway  Improvement, 
under  the  auspices  of  which  this  Congress  is  being  held.  We  can  all 
contribute  to  this  work,  each  in  accordance  with  his  opportunities, 
and  I  believe  that  by  doing  so  we  will  perform  a  high  public  service 
of  benefit  primarily  to  the  farmer  and,  in  the  end,  to  all  of  our  people. 


16  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

GOOD  ROADS  AND  WATERWAYS 

J.  HAMPTON  MOORE 

Member  of  Congress  from  Pennsylvania  and  President  of  the  Atlantic 
Deeper  Waterways  Association 

Good  roads,  like  good  waterways,  are  essential  to  the  country's 
development.  They  assist  in  the  creation  of  our  national  wealth,  and 
afford  a  means  of  distributing  it.  In  a  commercial  sense  they  are 
fairly  comparable  to  the  circulation  of  blood  through  the  arteries 
and  veins  of  the  human  system. 

I  am  an  advocate  of  the  prompt  and  comprehensive  development 
of  the  inland  waterways  of  the  United  States,  particularly  those  so 
long  neglected  along  the  Atlantic  Coast,  but  I  am  none  the  less  a  be- 
liever in  the  importance  of  improving  the  earthen  roads  of  the  country 
in  order  that  they  may  meet  the  requirements  of  modern  business 
and  the  increasing  transportation  demands  of  our  90,000,000  of  popu- 
lation. 

As  with  our  inland  waterways,  so,  unfortunately,  with  our  American 
highways,  we  lag  behind  our  European  brethren,  notably  of  Germany, 
France  and  England — still  wasteful,  still  hair-splitting,  still  dilly- 
dallying, still  running  our  vessels  against  the  shoals,  still  taking  the 
dust  of  the  fellow  who  gets  the  road  ahead  of  us,  still  leaving  to  the 
next  generation  the  advantages  we  ought  to  receive  for  ourselves. 

THE   WORK   OF   AGITATION 

I  am  glad  the  American  Association  for  Highway  Improvement 
has  been  formed.  If  it  adds  a  single  new  road  to  the  assets  of  a  progres- 
sive and  long-suffering  people;  if  it  helps  to  carry  transportation 
facilities  to  any  section  of  the  country  not  hitherto  penetrated  by  modern 
avenues  of  communication;  if  it  succeeds  in  crystallizing  into  one  grand 
forward  movement  the  sentiment  of  diversified  associations  working 
for  the  same  end,  then  indeed  it  will  have  served  a  good  purpose.  Or 
if,  in  the  laudable  work  of  agitation,  it  shall  succeed  in  creating  a 
better  understanding  of  our  transportation  needs,  then  likewise  will 
it  justify  the  efforts  of  its  founders.  For  as  it  has  been  with  water- 
ways, so  it  is  with  highways.  We  have  been  indifferent;  we  have 
fallen  behind;  we  have  devoted  our  time  to  other  enterprises;  and  if 
we  are  not  to  be  eternally  hardened  to  our  imperfections  and  incon- 
veniences, we  must  have  recourse  to  agitation,  and  that  persistently, 


GOOD   ROADS  AND   WATERWAYS  17 

to  recover  lost  ground.  And  that  valuable  ground  has  been  lost  is 
amply  proven  from  day  to  day  by  the  insistent  demands  of  the  power 
boat  and  the  motor  vehicle,  with  their  manifold  accessories  to  trade 
and  commerce. 

HELPING  OTHERS — FORGETTING  OURSELVES 

We  have  been  waiting  a  long  time  for  these  improvements.  The 
interior  of  our  great  country  possesses  50,000  miles  of  water  ways, 
only  half  of  which  are  navigable.  Trails  of  the  pioneers  still  pursue 
their  course  through  rugged  mountain  passes,  and  some  of  them  are 
little  better  now  than  they  were  in  the  days  of  the  flint-lock  and  the 
trapper.  For  more  than  two-hundred  years  we  have  waited  for  a  canal 
through  Cape  Cod.  The  storms  of  the  present  month  (November) 
have  carried  additional  lives  and  property  to  destruction  upon  this 
cape,  but  there  is  no  relief.  They  are  civilized  people  who  boast  of 
their  progress  in  New  England,  but  they  have  stood  submissively 
for  1000  disasters  upon  Cape  Cod  during  the  past  twenty-five  years 
alone.  They  will  build  canals  at  Panama,  and  expend  the  nation's 
resources  for  the  uplift  of  the  Cuban  and  the  Filippino,  but  the  wreck- 
age at  Cape  Cod  goes  on  unchecked.  In  the  area  of  the  Chesapeake 
and  Delaware  we  have  more  commerce  in  one  year  than  will  be  done 
through  the  Panama  Canal  in  ten  years,  and  yet  since  1829  we  have 
been  content  to  do  business  on  a  13-mile  canal  drawing  9  feet  of  water, 
or  risk  our  lives  and  property  on  a  325-mile  course  at  sea.  We  have 
made  substantial  progress,  but  we  have  been  confronted  with  delays 
and  obstacles  that  have  lingered  only  because  we  have  never  effectively 
united  to  remove  them. 

PLANS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS 

It  is  doubtful  if  our  forefathers  would  have  been  so  patient  as  we 
have  been.  They  were  planners  and  they  had  progressive  ideas, 
albeit  they  were  also  addicted  to  the  "red  tape"  habit,  which  still 
prevails  to  an  aggravating  extent.  Back  under  the  Jefferson  admin- 
istration the  people  demanded  transportation  facilities  to  the  great 
new  West,  and  in  1806  the  construction  of  the  Cumberland  Road 
was  authorized  by  Congress.  The  history  of  the  Cumberland  Road 
is  a  story  of  hesitations  and  disappointments.  It  was  to  have  been 
a  great  national  highway — such  as  is  now  sometimes  proposed  to 
link  the  oceans,  across  the  continent.  Its  construction  proceeded 


18  AMERICAN  EOAD  CONGRESS 

until  1822,  and  then  the  President  (Monroe)  decided  that  the  Con- 
stitution interfered  with  further  appropriations  for  its  maintenance 
But  the  earlier  statesmen  pressed  forward  with  other  projects,  very 
largely  through  the  separate  States,  and  were  especially  active  in  the 
construction  of  highways  and  canals.  For  a  quarter  of  a  century  after 
George  Washington,  roads  and  canals,  and  internal  matters  generally, 
were  the  chief  thought  of  the  national  leaders.  The  messages  of  all 
the  earlier  Presidents  breathed  a  desire  for  the  peaceful  occupation 
of  new  country  and  the  dissemination  and  increase  of  our  national 
wealth.  All  this  they  hoped  to  accomplish  through  good  roads  and 
good  waterways,  for  railroads  at  that  early  day  were  creatures  only 
of  the  imagination.  Canal  construction  was  one  of  the  chief  concerns 
of  public  men,  both  before  and  after  the  completion  of  the  Erie  Canal, 
and  continued  the  subject  of  agitation  and  legislation  until  the  advent 
of  the  railroad,  along  about  the  '30s. 

THE   ERA   OF  THE   RAILROAD 

If  we  have  fallen  short  of  the  expectations  of  our  ancestors  in  road 
or  canal  building,  and  have  lost  anything  of  their  energy  in  this  regard, 
it  was  doubtless  due  to  the  appearance  of  the  "iron horse."  Men  who 
had  money  to  invest  took  it  from  the  canals  and  put  it  into  railroads. 
Those  who  sought  to  open  new  fields  of  industry,  or  to  enter  rich  and 
undeveloped  territory,  applied  their  efforts  to  the  construction  of 
railroads.  The  government  of  the  United  States  also  entered  heartily 
into  the  work  of  railroad  construction,  and  assisted  materially,  both 
by  grants  of  land  and  the  expenditure  of  money,  in  the  completion  of 
vast  systems.  Those  who  quibble  today  about  the  right  of  the  govern- 
ment to  aid  in  the  construction  of  highways,  or  to  improve  and  sustain 
waterways,  will  find  embarrassing  precedents  in  the  history  of  railroad 
building  in  the  United  States.  It  is  fair  indeed  that  our  memories 
should  be  refreshed  upon  this  interesting  phase  of  our  national  prog- 
ress. And  if  the  government  of  the  United  States  could  aid  in  the 
building  of  railroads,  or  can  build  a  canal  at  Panama,  or  financially  assist 
in  the  uplift  of  a  foreign  people,  why,  in  all  fairness,  need  it  hesitate 
to  put  new  life  and  vigor  into  the  commerce  and  trade  of  the  American 
people  themselves? 


GOOD   ROADS  AND   WATERWAYS  19 

COMMERCE  LIMITED   BY  TRANSPORTATION 

No  one  with  common  sense  will  seek  to  curtail  the  advantages 
which  the  railroads  of  the  country  afford  to  the  people.  Whether 
they  are  rightly  or  wrongfully  managed  is  beside  the  question. 
Whether  they  seek  to  control  the  political  powers,  or  exercise  undue 
influence  with  the  legislatures,  need  not  now  be  considered.  The 
railroads  are  useful;  they  serve  a  great  and  noble  purpose,  and  they 
serve  it  better  in  the  United  States  than  in  any  other  country  in  the 
world.  They  have  aided  vastly  in  the  development  of  the  country. 
But  it  is  noticeable,  and  cannot  be  disputed,  that,  in  the  great  national 
movement  for  the  extension  of  railroads,  our  waterways  and  our  high- 
ways have  been  subordinated  to  their  influence  and  operation,  until 
the  value  and  availability  of  both  systems  has  been  impaierd.  It 
may  not  have  been  the  intention  to  destroy  the  roads  and  the  water- 
ways, but  that  they  have  been  " overlooked,"  in  the  general  advance, 
is  at  least  a  charitable  way  of  stating  the  facts.  It  is  now  evident 
that  we  need  them  both,  and  that,  if  we  are  not  to  maintain  a  monopoly 
in  transportation,  and  leave  the  common  carrying  business  solely 
with  the  railroad,  we  must  have  improved  waterways  and  a  modern 
system  of  earthen  roads. 

ZENITH  OF  RAILROAD  CAPACITY 

Before  proceeding  further,  let  us  recall  the  commercial  distress 
that  followed  the  car  shortage  of  1907.  The  railroads  were  then  in 
the  zenith  of  their  power  and  capabilites.  Were  they  able  to  carry  the 
freight  which  the  wealth  producers  of  the  country  had  created?  In 
the  language  of  Mr.  James  J.  Hill,  the  best  quoted  magnate  of  them 
all,  they  were  not,  for  in  an  address  made  in  Washington,  at  the  National 
Rivers  and  Harbors  Congress,  Mr.  Hill  declared  for  a  deeper  Missis- 
sippi as  a  relief  to  railroad  transportation.  And  this  phase  of  the 
problem  was  also  clearly  presented  in  an  address  by  Mr.  John  F. 
Stevens,  of  Panama  Canal  fame,  then  vice-president  of  the  New 
York,  New  Haven  and  Hartford  Railroad,  at  the  Baltimore  Conven- 
tion of  the  Atlantic  Deeper  Waterways  Association  in  1908.  I  quote 
what  he  said : 

It  must  be  remembered  that  within  sixty  years — about  one  hardy  business 
lifetime — our  railway  main  lines  have  risen  from  nothing  to  225,000  miles,  over 
which  traffic,  both  freight  and  passenger,  is  carried  at  speeds  equal  to,  and  at 
rates,  generally  speaking,  lower,  than  in  other  countries,  where  the  cost  of 


20  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

labor  and  material  is  much  less  than  with  us,  and  where  density  of  tonnage  is 
far  greater.  But  a  time  has  now  come — has  been  with  us  for  some  years — when 
the  railways,  considered  as  a  unit,  are  not  capable  of  handling  satisfactorily 
the  interchange  business  of  the  country,  even  supplemented  as  they  are  to  a 
certain  extent  by  water  lines.  And  to  such  lines  they  should  bear  the  relation 
of  allies,  instead  of  opponents,  if  they  now  do  not. 

WASTE  LAND  AWAITING  CULTIVATION 

In  the  light  of  these  statements,  which  are  confirmed  by  many  of 
the  far-seeing  railroad  men  of  the  country,  we  have  a  right  to  ask 
that  commerce  be  fortified  against  any  possible  future  congestion. 
There  are  but  two  methods  of  relief.  Aerial  navigation  may  some 
day  make  a  third — but  the  wealth  producers  of  the  land  today 
have  actual  need  for  the  earthen  roads  and  the  waterways,  and  these 
should  be  public  thoroughfares  in  the  strictest  sense.  For  if  we  do 
not  have  these  means  of  communication,  and  must  still  depend  upon 
the  railroad,  which  either  will  not  or  cannot  further  extend  its  lines, 
when  are  we  to  develop  the  areas  of  waste  land  where  agriculture  is 
feasible  and  no  outlet  is  provided?  Speaking  as  of  the  Atlantic  Coast, 
I  venture  to  say  that  the  more  than  35,000,000  of  population  from 
Maine  to  Florida  would  be  living  better,  and  at  less  expense,  if  we 
were  able  to  open  up  and  cultivate  our  own  neglected  fertile  lands 
east  of  the  Appalachian  Chain.  The  Eastern  farmer  need  not  go 
West.  We  can  now  sell  farm  lands  in  New  England  as  low  as  they 
can  be  purchased  in  Iowa.  Within  50  miles  of  Philadelphia  we  can 
sell  them  at  from  $60  to  $100  an  acre.  In  New  Jersey  and  Pennsyl- 
vania there  is  ample  opportunity  for  the  farmer  who  is  willing  to  apply 
himself  to  his  trade.  Delaware,  Maryland  and  Virginia  are  holding 
out  inducements  to  the  agriculturist,  and  North  Carolina  along  the 
coast  line  is  rich  and  almost  virgin  country.  In  South  Carolina  and 
in  Georgia  there  is  plenty  of  room  for  those  who  want  to  till  the  soil — 
but  in  every  instance  the  farmer's  problem  is  largely  one  of  trans- 
portation. 

FARMS  WITHOUT  A  MARKET 

The  farmer  must  get  his  crops  to  market.  How  often  does  it 
happen  that  the  land  he  would  like  to  occupy  is  too  remote  with 
respect  to  transportation?  Does  the  railroad  go  to  the  farmer  of 
Florida?  This  very  year  his  crops  have  been  rotting  in  some  pro- 
ductive areas  because  he  has  no  outlet  to  the  North.  In  the  water- 
ways movement  we  are  demanding  that  the  streams  be  opened  up 


GOOD   ROADS  AND   WATERWAYS  21 

to  the  farmer.  If  the  railroad  does  not  go  to  him  and  there  are  no 
adequate  roads  or  waterways,  the  country  roundabout  must  go  to 
waste.  Give  the  producer  a  chance  to  get  in  and  out,  whether  the 
railroad  comes  to  him  or  not,  and  you  will  help  to  keep  the  farmer 
contented,  as  you  will  afford  him  lucrative  means  of  employment. 
The  same  reasoning  applies  to  the  South,  to  the  great  Northwest, 
and  to  that  bounding  "  Middle  West,"  which  has  been  advancing 
so  rapidly  in  recent  years.  If  better  transportation  by  road  or  water 
will  add  to  the  productiveness  and  profit  of  farming,  there  will  be 
less  of  unrest,  and  a  truer  and  more  genuine  spirit  of  patriotism. 

BE  RIGHT,  BUT  GET  A  START 

Another  thought:  Perhaps  it  is  better  to  be  right  than  to  go  ahead. 
Unquestionably  we  should  proceed  as  the  Constitution  and  the  laws 
direct,  but  when  are  we  to  proceed?  Has  the  Cumberland  Road 
been  finished?  Has  the  canal  at  Cape  Cod  been  cut  through?  Are 
we  still  to  rely  upon  the  Oregon  Trail  for  our  journeys  into  the  North- 
west? The  government  was  asked  to  aid  in  the  construction  of  the 
Erie  Canal  in  1811.  There  were  too  many  halting  States  to  permit 
the  government  to  proceed.  New  York  was  game.  It  proceeded  alone. 
It  constructed  the  Erie  Canal,  and  became  the  Empire  Common- 
wealth. Moreover,  it  earned  the  gratitude  of  the  nation.  And  all 
this  it  did  before  a  single  railroad  track  was  laid  in  the  country.  Now 
we  have  steam  and  electricity.  The  automobile  and  motor  boat  have 
made  their  appearance,  and  30,000,000  horses  are  still  to  be  counted 
in  our  animal  population.  If  the  Constitution  which  impelled  Mon- 
roe to  check  the  progress  of  the  Cumberland  Road  is  still  unamended, 
neither  have  the  separate  States  been  brought  into  thorough  working 
accord  upon  a  comprehensive  plan  of  road  construction.  Here  is 
work  for  the  Association.  If  results  are  to  be  obtained,  the  agitation 
must  continue.  It  must  be  carried  forward  to  the  National  Congress, 
and  it  must  be  taken  into  the  legislatures  of  the  States.  But  a  definite 
plan  is  needed,  whether  it  looks  to  federal  initiative,  absolute  State 
control,  or  federal  supervision  with  the  cooperation  of  the  States. 
There  must  be  a  definite  and  reasonable  plan. 

INFLUENCE  OF  AUTOMOBILE  AND  MOTOR  BOAT 

Neither  our  forefathers,  who  planned  extensive  internal  develop- 
ments, nor  the  railroad  builders  whose  marvelous  advance  dwarfed 


22  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

the  country  roads  and  waterways,  were  able  to  divine  the  modern 
forces  which  now  cry  out  for  recognition.  But  they  have  come! 
The  automobile  is  here,  and  the  motor  boat  is  here.  The  automobile 
has  enlisted  the  expenditure  of  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars,  and 
the  motor  boat  has  increased  to  hundreds  of  thousands  in  number. 
On  road  and  river  bank,  establishments  are  being  built  for  the  con- 
struction and  distribution  of  these  new  and  useful  instruments  of 
transportation,  and  around  them  new  settlements  of  busy  work- 
men cluster.  They  are  growing  more  and  more  in  popular  favor, 
adding  to  our  business  opportunities,  and  holding  fast  to  worthy 
employment,  our  skilled  mechanics.  They  have  come  to  stay;  and 
roads  and  waterways  to  accommodate  them  must  be  provided!  It 
is  all  so  plainly  evident  that  "he  who  runs  may  read. "  And  as  they 
grow  and  expand  in  the  world  of  commerce,  these  new  factors  in 
internal  development  will  neither  harass  nor  destroy  existing  methods 
of  transportation,  but,  on  the  contrary,  will  make  new  trade  for 
railroads,  as  well  as  for  all  the  common  carriers  whose  terminals  and 
connecting  lines  will  permit  of  an  interchange  of  business.  For  what 
ship  may  come  in  from  the  Orient  or  the  Occident  and  yet  not  yield 
a  portion  of  its  cargo  to  the  common  carrier  of  the  United  States? 
Or  what  coastwise  vessel,  or  inland  barge,  penetrating  new  or  hitherto 
neglected  territory,  that  will  not  land  its  quota  of  business  for  existing 
transportation  lines?  Or  what  vehicle  of  the  road,  be  it  Conestoga 
wagon,  or  horseless  truck,  that  comes  and  goes  where  railroads  do 
not  serve,  that  willl  not  likewise  add  to  the  sum  of  our  national  wealth, 
and  incidentally  increase  the  work  of  our  common  carriers?  The 
answer  is  short  and  decisive:  it  is,  "New  business  for  everybody." 

GET   SOMETHING   STARTED! 

That  this  country,  still  capable  of  great  internal  development, 
shall  be  limited  in  its  progress  to  the  carrying  capacity  of  the  railroad 
is  an  untenable  proposition.  We  have  passed  beyond  that.  Our 
productive  power  requires  new  and  auxiliary  means  of  transporta- 
tion, and  we  should  have  them.  Our  opportunities  to  create  new 
business  for  capital,  and  to  provide  employment  for  labor,  should 
not  in  any  particular  be  restricted  or  curtailed.  We  must  have  good 
roads  and  connected  waterways,  and  we  must  agitate  until  they  come. 
The  several  States  are  awakening  to  public  sentiment  in  this  regard, 
and  gradually  the  national  government  is  being  impressed.  Already 


GOOD   ROADS  AND   WATERWAYS  23 

the  nose  of  the  camel  has  entered  Congress.  At  the  last  regular  session, 
an  appropriation  of  $2,000,000  was  made  for  a  memorial  to  Abraham 
Lincoln.  The  form  of  memorial  was  left  to  a  commission,  but  senti- 
ment has  been  crystallizing  in  favor  of  a  road  from  Gettysburg  to 
Washington,  which  would  establish  a  memorial  more  lasting  than 
bronze  and  more  serviceable  to  the  plain  people,  whom  Lincoln 
loved,  than  any  creation  of  the  artist  or  the  sculptor.  Whether  the 
commmission  will  yield  to  popular  sentiment,  and  construct  a  road 
that  will  be  at  once  a  memorial,  and  a  blessing  to  mankind,  remains 
to  be  seen.  In  this  instance  there  need  be  no  constitutional  question, 
nor  any  concern  as  to  the  consent  of  the  States.  The  construction  of 
a  Lincoln  memorial  highway  would  be  a  work  of  utility  which  the 
people  would  applaud. 

FROM   GETTYSBURG  TO   RICHMOND 

And  if  the  nose  of  the  camel,  thus  injected  into  Congress,  should 
be  accepted  as  expressing  the  will  of  the  people,  it  might  with  propriety 
be  pushed  a  little  further,  so  that  the  great  Lincoln  highway  shall 
continue  to  the  city  of  Richmond.  The  roads  of  the  Romans  were 
the  admiration  of  the  world.  The  roads  of  France  and  of  England 
are  the  pride  of  Europe.  We  have  natural  God-given  wonders  in 
America  which  excite  the  interest  of  our  foreign  visitors.  But  the 
permanent  works  of  man  have  not  yet  reached  perfection  in  America. 
Let  us  have  an  American  Appian  Way!  From  Gettysburg  to  Rich- 
mond is  not  an  idle  dream.  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  Virginia  and 
the  nation's  Capital !  It  is  a  plausible  and  glorious  possibility.  The 
soil  of  Rome  is  not  more  sacred  than  the  fertile  fields  that  mark  the 
gallantry  of  American  soldiery  under  Grant  and  Lee.  The  pages  of 
history  produce  no  names  that  future  ages  will  hold  in  greater  rever- 
ence than  those  who  fought  on  either  side  in  that  great  struggle. 
Then  why  not  construct  the  Memorial  here?  Why  not  make  this 
the  beginning  of  a  comprehensive  plan?  It  would  seem  to  be  the 
golden  opportunity,  the  one  great  chance  to  hold  the  interest  of  the 
people  of  all  the  States,  and  to  cement  their  good  will  and  cooperative 
power.  It  would  serve  the  practical  purpose  of  providing  an  object 
lesson  for  future  operations  in  road  construction,  and  it  would  tend, 
as  no  other  memorial  could,  to  develop  that  spirit  which  inspired 
Lincoln  at  Gettysburg  to  proclaim  a  reunion  "of  the  people,  by  the 
people  and  for  the  people"  that  " shall  not  perish  from  the  earth." 


24  AMERICAN   ROAD   CONGRESS 

THE  ROAD  THROUGH  DELAWARE 

GENERAL  T.  COLEMAN  DU  PONT 

At  the  request  of  Mr.  Page,  I  am  going  to  tell  the  convention  a 
little  about  "my  hobby,"  the  new  road  I  am  building  in  Delaware, 
and  the  results  I  hope  for  when  it  is  completed. 

My  object  in  building  the  road  is  not  only  to  provide  a  good  high- 
way where  it  is  badly  needed  and  where  it  would  run  through  a  splendid 
farming  section  if  developed  and  cared  for,  but  to  work  out  in  a  prac- 
tical way  a  problem  that  will,  if  successful  (and  I  feel  sure  it  will  be), 
revolutionize  the  building  of  roads  in  the  United  States. 

The  problem  is  "How  can  a  free  country  road  be  built  and  made 
to  pay  its  original  cost,  cost  of  maintenance  and  a  fair  return  on  the 
money  invested. 

After  outlining  briefly  my  plans  for  the  road  now  being  constructed 
in  Delaware,  I  will  explain  the  plan  I  have  been  working  on  for  some- 
time past,  believing  it  will  be  of  greater  interest  than  the  Delaware 
undertaking  because  it  is  not  local  but  a  proposition  in  which  all  are 
interested. 

The  land  acquired  in  Delaware  will  be  200  feet  wide  except  through 
cities  and  towns  where  a  width  of  120  feet  will  be  accepted. 

In  building  this  road  several  materials  will  be  used,  but  generally 
speaking,  the  material  most  available  in  that  section  will  be  used 
for  making  a  foundation  or  base  of  concrete  5  inches  deep,  and  on  this 
will  be  built  2  to  3  inches  of  trap  rock,  or  local  gravel,  and  asphalt, 
thus  making  a  first  class,  up-to-date  road. 

My  intention  is  to  make  a  proposition  to  the  State  to  maintain  the 
road  for  a  period  of  5,  10,  15,  or  even  20  years  at  a  cost  that 
will  be  less  than  the  cost  of  interest  on  the  bonds,  had  the  State 
issued  the  bonds  and  built  the  road.  My  object  being  principally 
to  insure  the  road  being  kept  up  and  to  show  the  exact  cost.  Such 
figures  are  hard  to  get  at  from  the  public  records,  but  will  be  available 
for  all  interested  in  good  roads,  should  I  make  this  arrangement  with 
the  State. 

My  idea  is  to  keep  this  road  as  dry  as  possible,  and  arrangements 
will  be  made  with  the  farmers  along  the  line  of  the  road  to  clean  off 
the  snow.  As  soon  as  a  storm  begins  a  certain  number  of  farmers 
will  start  with  power  sweepers.  These  men  will  be  relieved  at  short 
intervals,  until  the  snow  has  stopped  falling  and  the  road  is  clear.  In 
this  way  one  of  the  greatest  foes  of  a  road  will  be  handled. 


THE  ROAD  THROUGH  DELAWARE  25 

A  plan  for  taking  care  of  repairs  and  of  keeping  up  the  road  has 
also  been  worked  out. 

Every  part  of  the  road  will  be  gone  over  every  other  day  by  a  road 
man  and  repairs  commenced  the  day  the  road  is  finished,  if  they  are 
needed.  Not  a  depression  nor  an  upheaval  of  one  inch  will  be  allowed 
to  go  uncared  for. 

Ultimately,  I  hope  the  road  in  Delaware  will  require  the  whole 
200  feet  for  public  use,  having  in  the  center  a  strip  40  feet  wide  for 
high  speed  vehicles.  On  each  side  of  this,  say  15  feet  should  be  reserved 
for  electric  car  lines,  then  30  feet  outside  the  electric  line  for  vehicles, 
each  side  for  travel  in  one  direction  only.  On  both  sides  and  beyond 
these  "metal"  roads,  will  be  say  15  feet  of  dirt  roads  under  which 
will  be  laid  all  pipes,  condiuts,  sewers,  etc.,  thus  avoiding  tearing  up 
the  " metal"  road.  Beyond  these  dirt  roads  will  be  cement  side- 
walks, grass  and  trees,  or  shrubbery;  but  to  build  in  this  way  at  this 
time  would  be  folly,  as  some  places  where  the  road  now  runs,  traffic 
only  averages  seven  vehicles  a  day. 

The  day  is  coming  when  speed  laws  will  be  a  thing  of  the  past 
and  automobiles  will  make  60, 80,  yes  100  miles  an  hour  on  our  roads 
carrying  men  to  and  from  their  daily  work,  thus  bringing  healthy 
country  life  within  reach  of  many  of  our  citizens. 

Flying  machines  have  come  to  stay,  and  suitable  places  where  they 
can  land  and  from  which  they  may  start  will  be  arranged  for,  and 
this  I  intend  to  make  one  of  the  features  of  the  road  through  Delaware. 
I  hope  this  road  will  greatly  improve  conditions  in  lower  Delaware  by 
bringing  modern  improvements  within  reach  of  many  people  now  cut 
off  from  them. 

It  was  with  this  idea  in  my  mind  in  an  undeveloped  condition  that 
I  asked  for  a  right  of  way  200  feet  wide,  or  rather  the  right  to  acquire 
200  feet.  In  a  very  few  years,  I  will  have  figures  to  show  what  the 
result  will  be;  as  if  the  method  suggested  proves  practical,  it  will 
work  out  in  the  case  of  the  road  through  Delaware.  However,  in 
my  case,  the  land  is  acquired  from  only  a  few,  which  is  not  entirely 
fair,  since  others  who  are  deprived  of  no  land  will  be  equally  benefited 
by  the  road  and  improvements  that  follow. 

In  the  Delaware  road  I  am  going  to  utilize  the  extra  land  acquired 
not  occupied  by  the  road  in  several  ways : 

First,  to  do  anything  that  will  tend  to  develop  Delaware. 

Second,  to  make  it  easy  by  offering  inducements  for  any  one  want- 
ing to  build  a  trolley  line  to  do  so. 


26  AMERICAN  ROAD   CONGRESS 

Third,  to  establish  at  certain  intervals  places  for  the  landing  of 
aeroplanes  of  all  kinds. 

Fourth,  stations  for  gasoline  and  other  supplies  and  for  repairs  to 
vehicles,  and  anything  needed  to  aid  any  traveler  on  his  way. 

My  plan  is  to  put  the  stations  in  the  farming  districts  in  charge 
of  a  graduate  of  an  agricultural  school,  who  each  year  will  put  in 
certain  crops  in  the  most  scientific  manner  and  who  will  tell  the 
farmers  as  far  as  possible  the  kind  of  crops  to  plant  in  certain  lands  and 
who  will  analyze  the  soil  and  find  out  what  kind  of  fertilizer  is  most 
needed  for  the  coming  crop  in  any  particular  field  or  what  crop  is 
best  in  certain  soil,  to  maintain  a  place  for  the  grangers  to  meet,  to 
keep  in  touch  with  the  Agricultural  Department  at  Washington  and 
take  advantage  of  its  knowledge,  to  show  by  actual  practice  plowing 
and  cultivaton  by  machinery  as  against  horse  power,  and  other  new 
methods  of  farming. 

This  should  bring  the  farmers  into  cooperative  work,  for  example, 
there  are  four  farms  adjoining,  today,  each  one  put  in  say  80  acres  of 
wheat  in  four  different  fields  of  80  acres  each.  Let  them  take  down 
the  fences  and  with  a  steam  or  gasoline  engine  the  four  could  put  in 
320  acres  of  wheat  at  less  than  the  labor  cost,  including  the  wear  and 
tear  on  the  machine,  than  it  costs  them  to  put  in  80  acres  by  the  pres- 
ent accepted  method  in  Delaware.  This  economy  of  cooperation  is 
equally  applicable  in  the  harvest  season,  with  improved  machinery. 

In  the  case  of  this  road,  as  it  is  my  intention  to  develop  the  State, 
the  income  will  be  used  to  maintain  these  various  stations  and  not  for 
maintaining  the  road,  the  comparison  is  not  an  exact  one,  but  the 
figures  will  be  available  and  can  be  compared  with  the  cost  of  mainten- 
ance and  applied  to  other  cases  so  others  interested  may  have  the  ad- 
vantage of  them. 

The  good  road  movement  in  the  United  States  is  now  being  taken 
up  everywhere  and  by  all  classes  of  people,  but  legislatures  are  slow 
to  pass  appropriations,  fearing  to  raise  the  taxes  of  their  constituents 
thereby  making  themselves  unpopular.  Of  the  farmers,  "The 
greatest  users  of  roads, "  only  a  few  are  able  to  see  that  in  being  satis- 
fied with  the  present  condition  of  our  roads  they  are  in  reality  paying 
higher  road  taxes  than  they  imagine.  In  order  to  "haul"  their 
produce  to  the  markets  and  to  "haul"  fertilizers  and  other  necessities 
to  their  farms  they  keep  from  two  to  four  times  as  many  horses  or 
mules  as  are  necessary,  and  frequently  keep  extra  men  to  do  the  work 
caused  by  inferior  roads. 


THE  ROAD  THROUGH  DELAWARE  27 

From  a  number  of  figures  compiled  from  different  sources,  the 
average  load  drawn  by  two  horses  or  mules  on  our  unimproved  roads 
is  about  960  pounds,  and  the  average  distance  from  farm  to  market, 
12  miles.  The  average  day's  work  for  two  horses  is  12  miles  a  day  on 
these  roads.  On  the  French  roads,  for  comparison,  one  horse  takes 
a  load  of  3000  pounds  18  miles  every  day  in  the  year.  If  our  farmers 
would  count  as  road  tax,  the  extra  amount  they  pay  to  maintain  horses 
men,  wagons,  and  harness  to  make  up  the  difference  between  what  they 
now  haul  and  what  they  would  haul  on  a  good  road,  they  would  refuse 
to  vote  for  any  representative  or  senator  for  the  State  legislature,  who 
would  not  promise  to  reduce  their  expenses  by  voting  for  liberal 
appropriation  for  good  roads,  for  the  absolute  maintenance  of  them  at 
all  times,  or  in  case  of  the  plan  hereinafter  described,  vote  to  loan 
the  credit  of  the  State  for  such  time  as  may  be  required. 

I  was  much  surprised  a  few  weeks  ago  in  talking  to  a  man  at  the  head 
of  a  department  having  charge  of  many  miles  of  roads,  to  hear  him 
say  "after  a  road  was  built  properly,  it  required  absolutely  no  expense 
for  maintenance  for  three  or  four  years."  This  remark  points  to 
one  of  the  greatest  mistakes  in  regard  to  American  roads,  for  in  many 
of  our  states  roads  are  built  with  absolutely  no  provision  for  their 
up-keep,  the  consequence  being  after  a  few  years  they  are  really 
worse  than  the  original  dirt  road  and  cost  about  as  much  to  repair  as 
to  build  a  new  road. 

One  could  go  on  indefinitely  in  the  above  strain,  volumes  have  been 
written  on  the  subject,  but  what  the  American  people  want  is  a  way 
to  build  roads  economically  and  quickly  without  a  greatly  increased 
tax  on  their  resources. 

Now  for  the  problem  "How  can  a  free  country  road  be  built  and 
made  to  pay  its  original  cost,  cost  of  maintenance  and  a  fair  return  on 
the  money  invested?" 

The  following  plan,  I  believe,  could  be  adopted  successfully  in  most 
of  the  United  States,  east  of  the  Mississippi  River  and  in  a  good  many 
places  west  of  it,  in  fact  wherever  the  population  is  a  producing  one. 
This  plan  would  provide  funds  for  building  the  road,  maintaining  it, 
and  subsequently  repaying  to  the  State  or  corporation  building  it,  all 
the  interest  and  principal  and  a  good  return  on  the  investment. 
When  this  is  done  there  will  be  left  a  tangible  surplus,  the  disposal 
of  which  will  be  suggested  later. 

Assuming  that  each  State  has  passed  the  necessary  legislation  and 
provided  the  proper  organization  or  commission  to  carry  out  its  pur- 


28  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

pose,  then  suppose  a  road  is  wanted  between  two  towns,  say  15  miles 
apart.  This  would  be  ascertained  by  submitting  the  question  to  a 
vote  of  the  people  owning  the  land,  one  vote  for  each  acre  owned, 
say  five  miles  each  side  of  the  suggested  route.  The  route  should  be 
as  nearly  straight  as  possible.  The  vote  should  be  by  acres.  If  a 
majority  of  the  land  owners  (in  acreage)  vote  in  favor  of  the  road, 
the  fact  of  the  favorable  vote  would  automatically  constitute  the  right 
to  build  the  road.  Land  could  be  condemned  if  necesssary,  and  the 
road  laid  out,  say  250  feet  wide.  The  people  on  the  line  of  road  would 
give  all  the  land,  namely,  250  feet,  but  the  ratio  between  the  benefits 
that  would  accrue  to  the  donors  would  be  equalized  as  follows:  Those 
within  one  mile  would  contribute  only  30  per  cent  of  the  land,  the 
owners  of  land  between  one  mile  and  two  mile  25  per  cent;  two  and 
three  miles  20  per  cent;  three  and  four  15  per  cent,  between  four  and 
five  10  per  cent  of  the  250  feet,  total  100  per  cent.  While  those  whose 
land  the  road  passed  through  would  give  100  per  cent,  they  would 
be  repaid  70  per  cent,  the  next  one  would  be  repaid  by  the  next 
75  per  cent,  the  next  80  per  cent,  etc.,  this  adjustment  having  been 
made  by  a  commission.  The  act  authorizing  the  building  of  the  road 
would  carry  the  power  to  adjust,  condemn,  and  all  other  power  required 
by  a  commission  elected  or  appointed  for  the  purpose.  Inasmuch  as 
the  person  whose  land  is  taken  at  today's  price  and  paid  for  at  the  value 
the  day  he  is  paid,  the  division  above  may  not  be  necessary,  because 
being  repaid  for  his  land  at  the  advance  price  likely  to  follow  the  devel- 
opment would  be  enough  of  an  inducement  for  him  to  give  up  the  use 
of  the  land  until  such  a  time  as  he  was  paid  for  it;  but  should  it  deprive 
the  owner  of  too  much  land,  the  division  into  30,  25,  20,  15,  and  10 
per  cent  is  suggested.  Then  bonds,  guaranteed  by  the  State,  both 
principal  and  interest  would  be  issued  on  this  250  feet  and  the  pro- 
ceeds used  for  building  the  road,  and  paying  carrying  charges.  The 
entrances  to  properties  should  be  150  to  200  feet  apart  or  the  dis- 
tance between  streets  and  alleys  in  the  nearest  town. 

The  road  would  be  built  at  first  say  20  feet  wide,  than  30,  then  40, 
then  50  as  the  growth  of  the  section  warranted.  As  the  country  grew 
and  developed,  the  strip  on  either  side  of  the  road  would  become  more 
valuable  for  every  purpose,  trolley  lines,  telegraph,  telephone,  sewers, 
rights  of  way  in  and  out  of  adjoining  properties,  etc. 

The  income  from  that  part  of  the  land  not  needed  for  road  purposes 
until  such  a  time  as  required  for  public  service,  such  as  telephone, 
telegraph,  trolley  lines,  and  other  public  utilities  which  would  pay  a 


THE  ROAD  THROUGH  DELAWARE  29 

rental  in  proportion  to  their  earnings,  would  be  used,  first,  for  main- 
taining the  road  in  an  absolutely  perfect  condition.  For  this  the  State 
might  have  to  make  the  road  building  commission  a  temporary  loan. 
The  period  of  not  being  self-sustaining  passed,  the  income  would  be 
applied  (after  maintenance),  to  interest,  then  to  paying  off  the  bonds 
issued  for  construction.  After  the  bonds  are  paid  the  income  will  be 
applied  to  paying  for  the  land  acquired  at  its  value  the  day  it  is  paid 
for  by  the  road  commission.  After  this,  toward  paying  county  and 
State  debts,  etc.,  or  the  returns  can  be  distributed  to  the  share- 
holders who  gave  land  as  their  interest  may  appear,  but  this  income, 
should  it  go  to  the  land  owner,  should  be  bought  and  sold  with  the 
land  just  as  a  spring  of  well  known  water  goes  with  the  land.  That 
is,  selling  the  land  would  pass  title  to  the  stock  or  the  excess  could  be 
used  for  extending  the  road.  One  suggestion  would  be  that  when 
the  income  reached  a  point  when  every  one  was  paid  in  full,  the 
property  could  be  made  to  pay  less  interest,  by  turning  part  of  the 
earnings  strips  into  boulevards  and  drives  for  beautifying  the  cities 
through  which  it  runs.  This  is  probably  the  best  solution,  but  what- 
ever the  soltuion  it  should  be  broad  enough  to  allow  building  chari- 
table institutions,  more  roads,  or  for  any  other  use  that  seems  best 
at  the  time,  or  even  follow  the  example  of  the  Delaware  road  and  estab- 
lish stations  for  bringing  before  farmers  and  others  the  latest  known 
methods  as  applied  to  agriculture. 

There  would  be  about  26  acres  per  mile  of  land  for  various  uses. 
This  should  rent  at  from  $5  to  $10  per  acre  from  the  first  for  agricul- 
tural purposes,  and  create  an  income  of  from  $130  to  $260  per  mile, 
which  would  easily  maintain  the  road  the  first  few  years.  At  the  start  the 
State  might  have  to  pay  part  of  the  interest,  but  as  the  town  grew, 
and  the  country  developed  the  rental  for  this  100  feet  on  either  side 
would  soon  advance  to  a  point  where  the  income  would  be  ample  for 
maintenance  and  interest,  and  after  that  the  bonds  could  be  taken 
care  of. 

If  any  of  those  present  will  look  back  twenty  five  years  and  note  the 
value  of  land  along  an  important  road  at  the  edge  of  the  city,  or  even 
in  the  city  now,  as  compared  with  that  same  value  twenty-five  years 
ago,  it  will  at  once  be  apparent  that  the  income  would  soon  be  a  valu- 
able asset  to  the  State,  county  or  to  the  builders  of  the  road.  Suppose 
this  idea  had  been  put  into  effect  when  Broadway,  New  York,  stopped 
at  Canal  Street.  What  would  the  income  (ground  rent)  from  100  feet 
each  side  of  Broadway  from  Canal  Street  to  Yonkers  be?  In  some 


30  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

places  the  income  would  exceed  $1,000,000  per  mile.  Aroad  built  under 
these  plans  would  be  maintained  in  perfect  condition  always  by  this 
income,  it  would  be  a  good  road,  the  land  along  it  more  valuable, 
more  desirable,  and  therfore  bringing  in  sooner  than  usual,  returns 
worthy  of  most  careful  consideration,  always  keeping  in  mind  that 
the  road  must  be  in  perfect  condition  with  penalty  for  neglect.  This 
is  important. 

To  refer  again  to  the  income  from  the  land  along  side  of  the  road, 
where  the  value  of  the  land  is  likely  to  increase  rapidly,  it  might  be 
well  to  issue  more  bonds  in  the  first  place  and  pay  for  the  land  then 
and  there  so  that  when  the  road  became  self-sustaining  and  the  income 
was  increasing  rapidly  a  block  that  had  large  earning  power  could  be 
followed  by  a  block  which  would  be  a  park  and  on  the  line  of  this  road 
the  commissioners  might  alternate  a  paying  block  and  a  park,  depend- 
ing entirely  upon  the  earning  power  of  the  land  along  side,  but  I 
believe  the  income  spent  in  this  way  would  in  the  long  run  be  better  than 
to  pay  dividends  to  contributing  land  owners.  However,  in  each 
section  of  the  country  this  problem  would  have  to  be  treated  by  the 
desire  of  the  people  in  that  section. 

This  plan  is  one  that  will  require  a  good  deal  of  thought  and  to  put 
it  in  more  detail  would,  I  am  afraid,  tend  to  confuse  rather  than  en- 
lighten my  audience,  but  this  will  be  followed  in  the  near  future  by 
figures  given  from  the  results  of  the  experiment  in  Delaware. 


HIGHWAY  ENGINEERS'  AND  CONTRACTORS'  DAY 

November  21,  1911 

HAROLD  PARKER,  Chairman 
Former  Chairman  Massachusetts  State  Highway  Commission 

MR.  PARKER:  Gentlemen,  the  arduous  duty  of  presiding  at  this 
meeting  has  been  thrust  upon  me,  and  also  the  duty  of  making  a 
speech.  Mr.  Page  has  laid  out  a  certain  amount  of  work  to  be  done 
which  will  take  at  the  lowest  figures  two  hundred  minutes,  and  the  time 
allowed  is  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  minutes,  and  this  is  not  count- 
ing my  speech  as  taking  up  any  time  at  all.  So  I  am  going  to  cut 
my  speech  out  entirely,  and  simply  say  that  I  have  just  come  from  the 
meeting  in  Rochester,  New  York,  where  we  had  a  very  large  assem- 
blage of  road-makers;  at  that  meeting  a  formal  resolution  was 
passed  sending  the  good-will  of  that  convention  to  this,  through  Mr. 
Page  as  president,  with  the  sincere  hope  that  not  only  would  this 
convention  be  successful  in  every  respect,  but  that  the  life  and  vitality 
of  this  Association  should  be  perpetuated.  So  I,  representing  that 
Association,  and  at  the  present  time  its  president,  want  you  to 
understand  me  as  saying  that  the  two  Associations  should  go  hand  in 
hand,  that  so  far  from  being  rivals,  they  should  be  the  closest  friends; 
and  I,  speaking  for  them  and  the  directors  of  that  Association,  want 
you  all  to  appreciate  that  that  is  our  view,  and  not  only  our  view  in 
our  own  minds,  but  as  expressed  publicly  and  by  authority  of  that 
convention. 

This  morning  we  have  a  series  of  papers  which  are  to  be  discussed 
by  certain  gentlemen,  whom  I  shall  take  the  liberty  of  calling  upon 
from  the  audience,  and  I  want  to  say  that  it  is  neceassry  for  us  to  abide 
by  the  time  limitations.  The  papers  will  occupy  ten  minutes  or  less, 
and  the  discussions  twenty  minutes  more,  divided  into  speeches  of 
five  minutes  each,  and  if  I  interrupt  any  of  you  in  a  very  interesting 
passage,  you  will  take  it  not  as  a  personal  assault,  but  simply  as  the 
fulfillment  of  my  duty. 

31 


32  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

The  first  one  to  address  us  today  is  Mr.  McLean,  of  Toronto,  who 
is  the  provincial  engineer  of  Ontario,  Canada,  a  man  I  have  known 
for  years  and  whose  standing  there  as  well  as  in  this  country,  is  known 
to  everybody  interested  in  this  question. 

STONE  AND  GRAVEL  ROADS 

W.  A.  MCLEAN,  C.E. 

Provincial  Engineer  of  Highways  for  Ontario,  Canada 

An  ideal  roadmaking  material,  possessing  every  desirable  quality 
under  all  conditions,  for  service,  durability  and  cost,  continues  to  be 
used  in  Utopia,  but  as  far  as  we  can  learn,  in  no  other  country.  That 
such  a  material  exists,  it  is  well  to  dream,  but  in  more  practical  inter- 
vals it  is  not  the  part  of  wisdom  to  give  up  doing  the  things  we  can 
do  because  we  want  to  do  something  we  cannot  do.  Motor  traffic 
has  led  to  an  important  use  of  bituminous  binders  on  main  roads; 
but  water-bound  broken  stone,  substantially  as  advocated  by  Tres- 
aguet,  Telford  and  Macadam,  is  still  the  mainstay  of  roadbuilding, 
while  gravel  is  its  useful  ally. 

CLASSIFICATION 

There  is  a  tendency  to  think  of  the  trunk  roads,  the  interurban  roads, 
the  roads  of  through  traffic,  as  the  all  important  phase  of  the  road 
problem.  Without  minimizing  the  usefulness  of  splendidly  built  main 
roads,  it  is  only  just  to  say  that  all  roads  are  important,  and  that  all 
deserve  a  type  of  construction  and  system  of  maintenance  in  keeping 
with  the  amount  of  traffic  over  them.  In  a  consideration  of  construc- 
tion, the  classification  of  roads  is  a  logical  step,  and  while  under  any 
classification,  one  grade  will  merge  into  another,  at  the  arbitrary 
dividing  line,  yet  in  every  country  of  good  roads,  a  classification  is 
necessarily  adopted. 

In  Ontario,  Canada,  the  roads  are  estimated  to  be  50,000  miles  in 
total  length.  Careful  consideration  has  shown  that  in  view  of  local 
conditions,  these  might  be  classified  approximately  as  follows: 

Class  1.  Inter-urban  and  trunk  roads,  5  per  cent. 

Class  2.  County  or  leading  market  roads,  15  per  cent. 

Class  3.  (a)  Main  township  roads,  50  per  cent;  (b)  Secondary 
township  roads,  30  per  cent. 


STONE  AND   GRAVEL  ROADS  33 

In  the  foregoing  classification,  class  No.  1,  inter-urban  and  trunk 
roads,  includes  such  highways  as  would  comprise  a  State  or  provin- 
cial system,  and  of  which,  because  of  heavy,  constant  through  traffic, 
the  proper  construction  and  maintenance  is  an  unfair  charge  upon 
local  municipalities.  These  roads,  are  of  the  type  which  should  be 
built  in  the  most  permanent  manner,  using  Telford  or  other  suitable 
foundation,  and  a  strong  broken-stone  covering  with  bituminous 
binder. 

Class  No.  2  comprises  the  main  arteries  radiating  from  local  market 
centers,  and  over  which  might  ordinarily  pass  from  50  to  150  vehicles 
a  day.  Such  roads  we  believe,  should  have  a  broken  stone  covering 
of  the  macadam  type,  and  if  subjected  to  sufficient  motor  traffic, 
should  be  oiled  to  preserve  them,  and  save  adjoining  property  from 
injury.  For  heavily  travelled  suburban  roads,  adjacent  to  large 
cities,  the  type  of  construction  may  be  that  belonging  to  Class  No.  1. 

Class  No.  3  (a)  comprises  the  concession  or  other  roads  of  a  town- 
ship, on  which  numerous  farms  front,  and  which  converge  into  and 
create  the  traffic  of  the  county  roads  of  Class  No.  2.  On  such  roads 
there  may  pass  from  5  to  50  vehicles  a  day.  The  more  important  of 
these  deserve  to  be  metalled  with  broken  stone,  if  good  gravel  or  other 
suitable  material  is  not  available. 

Class  No.  3  (b)  includes  little  travelled  connecting  or  other  roads, 
which  should  be  graded  and  given  such  further  treatment  as  cir- 
cumstances may  permit. 

The  relative  importance  of  the  several  classes,  from  the  builder's 
and  administrator's  standpoint,  is  a  matter  of  cost;  not  so  much  the 
cost  per  mile  as  the  total  cost  of  each  class.  On  that  basis  the  trunk 
roads  take  a  minor  place  and  the  great  body  of  roads  under  township 
councils,  rank  first  in  importance. 

Gradients  adopted,  amount  of  camber  or  crown,  width  and  depth 
of  metal,  foundation  if  any,  drainage,  binding  material,  and  other 
details,  should,  as  suggested,  be  largely  dictated  by  the  degree  of 
traffic  in  accordance  with  a  suitable  classification,  of  which  that  sug- 
gested, may  form  a  basis  for  the  purpose  of  this  paper.  (Let  me  here 
suggest  that  a  good  road  attracts  and  creates  traffic  so  that  the  im- 
provement of  any  one  road  is  likely  to  raise  it  from  one  class  to  a 
higher  grade,  which  should  not  be  lost  sight  of  in  planning  construc- 
tion). A  highway  engineer  should  be  an  economist,  for  a  design 
adapted  to  Class  No.  1,  should  not  be  built  where  traffic  requires 
only  a  road  suitable  for  Class  2  or  Class  3;  or  vice  versa.  Methods 


34  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

of  construction  should  be  as  simple  and  direct  as  proper  results 
will  permit.  There  should  be  a  well  adjusted  average  between 
maximum  service  and  minimum  cost.  If  this  is  studied  with  good 
judgment,  the  advocates  of  good  roads  need  be  less  amenable  to 
criticism  respecting  methods  of  finance. 

Class  No.  1 — Trunk  roads 

Broken  stone  roads  of  the  best  class  have  been  reduced  to  a  few 
well-defined  types,  through  more  than  a  century  of  experience  in 
England,  France,  Germany,  and  on  this  continent.  The  true  macadam 
road  has  a  well-drained  and  crowned  earth  sub-grade,  over  which  is 
spread  a  uniform  coating  of  broken  stone  of  about  2£  inches,  in  greatest 
dimension.  The  Telford  road  has  a  foundation  of  flat  quarry  stones, 
placed  by  hand,  on  edge,  the  angular  points  being  chipped  off  by  ham- 
mer, and  wedged  into  the  interstices;  and  over  all  is  spread  a  coating 
of  fine  broken  stone,  in  thickness  about  one-third  of  the  total  depth 
of  the  stone  surface.  The  earth  sub-grade  is  flat,  and  larger  stones 
are  used  at  the  center  of  the  road,  with  smaller  at  the  sides,  to  give 
the  desired  camber.  The  roads  built  by  Tresaguet  in  France,  were 
substantially  the  same  as  the  Telford  road,  and  are  usually  included 
with  it.  In  the  French  type,  the  sub-grade  was  cambered,  and  the 
foundation  stones  of  uniform  depth.  A  distinct  type  of  foundation 
is  that  developed  in  Massachusetts,  in  which  there  is  a  slightly 
V-shaped  sub-grade  with  a  filling  of  cobble  or  field  stone,  a  method 
which  is  claimed  to  give,  more  effectively  than  other  types,  the  desir- 
able under-drainage. 

Experience  has  shown  the  superiority  of  roads  with  a  foundation 
such  as  the  Telford  type,  in  reducing  the  cost  of  maintenance  under 
heavy  traffic.  If  the  natural  sub-soil  is  strongly  supporting,  such  as 
dry,  cemented  gravel,  the  foundation  may  be  omitted  with  saving  of 
cost.  Whether  the  Telford  or  Massachusetts  type  of  foundation  be 
followed,  the  writer  believes  that  local  material  suitable  for  either 
should  largely  govern. 

The  width  of  roadway  between  gutters  or  drains,  and  the  width 
of  stone  should  be  guided  by  the  amount  and  character  of  traffic,  and 
should  ordinarily  be  less  in  strictly  rural  districts,  increasing  as  roads 
converge  into  city  streets.  A  minimum  width  of  grade  for  trunk 
roads,  in  the  writer's  experience,  should  be  24  feet  with  metal  in  the 
central  12  feet,  and  earth  or  gravel  shoulders  six  feet  wide  on  each  side. 


STONE  AND   GRAVEL  ROADS  35 

Maintaining  shoulders  at  6  feet,  and  a  maximum  width  of  metal  at  18 
feet,  the  maximum  width  of  grade  need  not  exceed  30  feet. 

The  camber  of  roads  of  heavy  travel,  should  be  the  least  possible, 
consistent  with  good  surface  drainage,  factors  to  be  considered  being 
the  quality  of  road  metal,  class  of  binder,  and  gradient  of  the  road. 
As  is  well  known,  roads  with  a  sharp  crown  encourage  travel  in  one 
central  line  of  wheel-tracks,  while  a  flatter  surface  permits  more  uniform 
wear. 

A  hard  rock  such  as  trap,  or  a  bituminous  binder,  require  less  cam- 
ber than  does  soft  material  and  an  inferior  binder,  while  a  steep  grade 
requires  an  increased  camber  to  drain  the  wheel  tracks.  Trunk  roads 
of  the  best  class  may  be  given  an  average  crown  of  one-third  or  one-half 
an  inch  per  foot  from  center  to  gutter. 

Class  No.  2 — County  or  main  market  roads 

Cost  is  always  a  factor,  but  in  the  case  of  county  and  township 
roads  the  problem  is,  more  often  than  with  trunk  roads,  one  of  limited 
outlay,  or  of  obtaining  the  maximum  results  for  a  restricted  expendi- 
ture. The  general  construction  of  stone  roads  of  the  best  class, 
as  briefly  described,  will  form  an  introduction  to  roads  of  the  more 
universal  type. 

Roads  of  Class  No.  2,  cannot,  as  a  rule,  follow  closely  English, 
French,  German,  or  other  standard,  but  must  be  built  with  a  view  to 
the  particular  needs  of  this  Continent,  and  of  the  locality.  The  need 
in  most  States  and  provinces  is  a  long  mileage,  to  be  built  as  rapidly 
as  possible,  through  districts  where  population  is  comparatively  sparse. 

European  engineers,  would  undoubtedly,  if  it  were  possible  to  recon- 
struct many  of  their  roads,  lay  them  with  foundations,  but  the  cost  is 
prohibitive.  No  more  is  it  practicable  on  this  continent  to  build 
any  but  the  most  heavily  travelled  roads  with  expensive  foundations. 
Instead,  it  is  necessary  to  depend  on  good  drainage,  carefully  main- 
tained, to  keep  the  sub-soil  dry  and  stong  enough  to  sustain  the  road 
surface. 

Bridges  have  to  be  strong  enough  for  the  maximum  load,  and  with 
waterway  enough  for  the  maximum  freshet.  So  roadbeds  should 
have  sufficient  drainage  for  the  severest  test,  which  in  northern  coun- 
tries is  a  period  of  thaw  in  the  early  spring,  lasting  usually  for  two 
or  three  weeks.  If  the  sub-soil  drainage  is  sufficient  for  that  test- 
no  break-up  of  the  road  crust  need  be  feared  at  other  seasons. 


36  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

Old  specifications  for  roads  built  in  Canada  before  the  period  of 
railway  construction  required  open  drains  on  each  side  of  the  road, 
with  bottom  at  least  2  feet  below  the  crown.  In  many  places  the 
drain  was  deeper;  and  hills  or  spouty  places  were  under-drained  by 
trenches  filled  with  field  stone.  Such  roads  have  stood  the  test  of 
time,  and  may  be  accepted  as  the  standard  of  drainage  required  for 
the  north;  except  that  tile  under-drains  are  taking  the  place  of  open 
ditches  where  they  would  otherwise  be  dangerous,  unsightly,  or  diffi- 
cult to  maintain.  Drains  of  porous  farm  tile  keep  the  sub-soil  at 
its  dryest  and  prevent  uneven  settlement  of  the  road  crust  into  mud 
which  is  as  destructive  to  a  road  when  below  the  surface  as  when  on 
the  surface.  Some  counties  of  Ontario  are  using  tile  drains  the  full 
length  of  all  their  roads.  Others  use  them  only  on  wet  and  spouty 
hills;  on  level  land  which  is  exceptionally  wet  and  retentive;  or  where 
the  open  drains  would  otherwise  have  to  be  dangerously  deep  to  give 
sufficient  fall  and  outlet.  In  the  last  case,  the  tile  may  carry  some 
surface  drainage,  receiving  it  in  catch-basins. 

Closely  associated  with  drainage  is  the  grading  of  the  road.  Before 
a  road  is  surfaced  it  should  be  brought  to  grades  that  ensure  perman- 
ence. Hills  should  be  cut  down,  low  places  filled,  and  the  earth  work 
brought  to  a  substantial  turnpike.  The  road  surface  will  need  renewal, 
but  the  grade,  if  properly  made,  will  outlast  even  the  bond  issue.  On 
roads  of  a  secondary  class,  elaborate  surveys  are  unnecessary.  A 
good  foreman  can  obtain  easy,  flowing  gradients  by  grading  from 
point-to-point,  and  would  probably  disregard  stakes  and  profiles 
except  in  cases  of  extensive  cuts  and  fills,  new  locations,  tile  drains,  or 
doubtful  surface  drainage. 

Roads  laid  on  an  earth  foundation  should  be  given  a  higher  crown 
when  newly  constructed,  than  is  desirable  for  perfect  condition. 
Settlement  will  assuredly  occur,  and  unless  the  road  is  too  high  to 
begin  with,  it  will  become  too  flat.  A  road  of  Class  No.  2,  which  in 
two  or  three  years  has  settled  to  the  desirable  camber,  will  give  the 
greatest  degree  of  durability,  with  least  expense  for  maintenance. 
One  inch  to  the  foot  from  center  to  gutter  or  edge  of  shoulders,  for 
a  completed,  rolled  road,  will  meet  ordinary  conditions.  With  a 
circular  cross  section,  the  greatest  part  of  the  fall  is  on  the  earth  shoul- 
ders. 

The  cost  of  a  road,  unless  earthwork  and  drainage  is  of  an  excep- 
tional kind,  will  depend  on  the  width  and  depth  of  broken  stone  used. 
Wide,  flat  roads  are  desirable,  but  narrow  roads  with  a  good  camber, 


STONE  AND   GRAVEL  ROADS  37 

cost  less  to  build,  and  much  less  to  maintain,  unless  a  highly  organized 
system  of  maintaining  is  created.  We  have,  for  this  class  of  road, 
found  an  earth  grade  24  feet  wide,  shoulder  to  shoulder,  to  meet  most 
conditions;  which  may  be  reduced  to  18  or  20  feet  for  least  traffic. 
With  shoulders  6  feet  wide,  the  stone  is  put  on  from  8  to  12  feet  wide. 
The  consolidated  depth  of  metal  on  roads  under  the  writer's  super- 
vision, is  based  on  8  inches  for  a  moderately  strong  clay  or  sand  sub- 
soil. This  is  modified  according  to  the  anticipated  amount  of  traffic 
and  quality  of  stone  to  resist  wear;  the  maximum  concentrated  wheel 
loads;  local  tire  widths  and  wheel  diameters;  bond  of  road  metal  and 
consequent  distributing  effect  of  the  metal  crust;  the  supporting 
strength  of  the  sub-grade  and  opportunity  for  drainage — all  details 
of  interest  but  which  cannot  be  dwelt  upon  within  the  limits  of  this 
paper. 

Bituminous  binders  may  be  justified  for  heavily  travelled  suburban 
or  motor  roads  of  this  class,  but  present  practice  in  Canada  tends  to 
oiling  as  a  preservative  and  dust  preventive,  owing  to  the  less  first 
cost  of  water-bound  macadam. 

Class  No.  3 — Township  roads 

Reduction  of  cost  to  meet  township  conditions  requires  that  town- 
ships have,  as  their  ideal,  the  cheaper  class  of  roads  adapted  for  main 
county  roads.  Grading  is  cheap,  and  should  be  perfected  before 
metal  is  applied.  Neglect  to  provide  easy  flowing  gradients  and  to 
sufficiently  drain  and  turnpike  are  mistakes  fatal  to  any  road.  Minor 
municipalities  can  make  no  mistake  in  placing  the  perfect  earth  road 
as  an  ideal  base  for  such  metal  surfacing  as  their  resources  will 
permit.  An  earth-grade  from  eighteen  to  twenty-four  feet,  shoulder 
to  shoulder,  should  be  made,  and  a  single  track  laid  eight  feet  wide, 
of  gravel  or  broken  stone. 

BINDER 

The  durability  of  a  road  is  largely  dependent  on  the  binder,  and  the 
cementing  qualities  of  the  stone  dust,  in  producing  a  water-proof  sur- 
face,— if  tar  or  other  bituminous  binder  is  not  used.  The  writer  is 
strongly  in  favor  of  the  use  of  stone  screenings  as  opposed  to  sand, 
and  has  very  rarely  found  gravel  or  sand  sufficiently  clean,  coarse, 
and  sharp  to  satisfactorily  take  the  place  of  screenings  as  a  binder. 
Wherever  practicable,  stone  screenings  are  to  be  recommended,  par- 


38  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

ticularly  the  screenings  of  certain  classes  of  limestone;  the  superior 
cementing  qualties  of  which  make  it  a  better  road  metal  than  its 
degree  of  toughness  would  justify.  Limestone  screenings  are  exceed- 
ingly useful  with  water-washed  gravel  or  with  broken  granite  or  trap. 

COURSING    STONE 

A  uniform  grade  of  stone,  rather  fine,  is  desirable  in  finishing  the 
surface  of  a  road,  and  is  necessary  where  a  very  hard  stone  such  as 
trap  is  employed;  but  this  may  be  sought  at  considerably  increased 
cost,  and  is  not  always  necessary  for  suitable  results.  It  adds  to  the 
cost  of  a  road  to  spread  the  stone  in  several  layers.  Municipalities 
using  portable  crushers  particularly,  will  find  a  rotary  screen  with  two 
sizes  of  mesh  very  satisfactory.  This  will  produce,  (1)  "tailings," 
or  the  stone  too  large  to  pass  through  the  screen;  (2)  the  middle  course, 
a  uniform  grade  to  form  the  main  body  of  the  road;  and  (3)  "screen- 
ings" to  bond  and  finish  the  surface.  The  tailings  should  be  spread 
in  the  bottom  of  the  road  and  covered  to  the  required  depth  with  the 
uniform  grade;  and  this,  after  rolling,  may  be  lightly  coated  with 
screenings  and  rolled.  If  a  very  tough  stone  such  as  trap,  the  screen- 
ings may  be  such  as  will  pass  a  one-inch  mesh,  or  a  1^  inch  mesh  if 
limestone;  and  the  uniform  grade  of  stone  may  be  two  inches  for  trap, 
and  three  inches  for  limestone,  with  the  screenings  removed.  Crush- 
ing and  handling  are  cheapened  by  this  system  and,  for  water-bound 
roads,  a  smooth  surface  results. 

LOCAL  MATERIAL  AND   COST 

Trap  or  other  tough  rock  brought  from  a  distance  by  rail  in  prefer- 
ence to  the  use  of  soft  local  material,  may  be  justifiable  for  surfacing 
heavily  travelled  main  roads;  but  it  is  safe  rule,  if  applied  with  dis- 
cretion, that  local  material,  if  it  exists,  should  be  used.  Much  will 
depend  on  the  teaming  required,  but  for  moderate  wagon  hauls  up 
to  two  miles,  on  highways  of  the  second  and  third  classes,  the  writer 
has  commonly  found  gravel  roads  being  built  for  $100  per  mile  for 
each  foot  in  width  of  metal;  if  local  broken  stone  is  used,  the  cost 
is,  all  things  equal,  about  doubled,  or  $200  per  foot;  and  if  imported 
by  rail,  about  $300  per  foot.  Taking  then,  a  road  not  requiring 
much  grading  and  with  8  feet  of  metal  and  8  inches  in  consolidated 
depth,  the  cost  might  be  stated,  for  cheap  construction  at  $800  a 


STONE  AND   GRAVEL  ROADS  39 

mile  for  a  gravel  road;  $1600  a  mile  for  a  road  built  of  local  crushed 
stone;  and  $2400  per  mile  if  the  stone  is  brought  in  by  rail.  These 
are  minimum  prices. 

GRAVEL  ROADS 

Gravel  in  general  is  inferior  to  broken  stone  as  a  road  material, 
but  if  of  a  reasonable  quality,  is  suitable  for  roads  of  the  third  class — 
township  roads — and  for  many  market  roads  of  the  second  class,  but 
unless  of  exceptional  quality  is  deficient  for  heavy  traffic.  The 
rounded  pebbles  do  not  take  the  mechanical  clasp  that  pertains  to 
fragments  of  broken  stone,  while  the  sand  which  it  usually  contains 
is  not  equal  to  stone  screenings  as  a  binder.  It  may  contain  lime  or 
iron,  improving  its  bonding  qualities,  but  as  a  rule  it  is  not  water- 
proof and  ruts  readily  in  wet  weather,  especially  if  it  contains  sand, 
clay  or  loam  in  excess. 

The  best  quality  of  gravel  is  of  varying  sized  grain  up  to  2  inches  in 
greatest  dimension,  with  only  sufficient  fine  material  to  fill  the  voids 
between  pebbles.  It  should  be  clean  and  made  up  largely  of  a  uniform 
grade  of  pebbles — qualities  rarely  found  in  natural  pit  gravel .  Gravel 
pits  containing  a  mass  of  large  stones  and  boulders  should  be  treated 
as  rock,  and  put  through  a  crusher.  Gravel  which  is  not  coarse,  but 
which  is  "dirty, "  should  be  screened  to  remove  the  excess  of  sand  or 
clay.  A  rotary  screen  may  be  used,  operated  by  steam,  the  gravel 
being  dumped  into  a  hopper  from  which  it  passes  through  the  rotary 
screen,  and  from  the  screen  to  an  elevated  bin,  from  which  the 
screened  gravel  is  again  loaded  into  wagons  to  be  taken  to  the  road. 
By  means  of  the  elevated  bins  the  expense  of  shovelling  into  wagons 
is  saved,  the  time  of  teams  and  teamsters  is  saved,  and  a  well 
arranged  plant  will,  under  favorable  circumstances,  pay  for  crushing 
and  screening,  This  is  particularly  the  case  if  a  pit  near  the  work 
can  be  used  rather  than  to  team  better  material  a  long  distance. 

METHODS 

The  methods  of  construction  will  largely  determine  the  cost. 
Machine  work  is  cheaper  than  manual  labor.  The  cross-section 
adopted  should  therefore  permit  the  maximum  amount  of  machine 
construction.  Particularly  for  the  cheaper  class  of  roads,  the  grading 
machine,  in  treating  with  old  locations,  should  do  most  of  the  earth- 
work, supplemented  with  wheeled  and  drag  scrapers.  The  cheapest 


40  AMERICAN  ROAD   CONGRESS 

and  best  plan,  in  the  writer's  experience,  has  been  to  make  the  earth 
sub-grade,  shoulder  to  shoulder  between  ditches,  almost  flat,  or  with 
a  central  rise  of  about  three  inches  for  a  24  foot  grade.  When  this  is 
rolled  the  stone  is  spread  to  the  desired  width  in  the  center,  then  with 
the  grading  machine,  earth  is  drawn  from  the  shoulders  to  support 
the  stone,  thus  completing  the  camber.  The  stone  is  rolled  dry  to 
level  the  surface,  the  screenings  are  then  spread,  sprinkled  and  rolled 
till  consolidated.  To  grade  the  road  and  then  excavate  a  central 
channel  to  receive  the  metal  is  a  more  expensive  method,  and  is  apt, 
for  roads  without  a  foundation,  to  place  the  stone  too  low  for  good 
drainage,  producing  what  may  be  termed  a  "water-logged"  road. 
Instead  of  the  camber  and  turnpike  being  high  enough  to  allow  for 
settlement,  it  is  apt  to  be  made  too  low  and  flat. 

ROLLING 

As  distinguished  from  earlier  road  making,  modern  construction 
has  been  largely  influenced  by  machinery,  especially  grading  machines, 
rock  crushers,  and  road  rollers.  The  smaller  municipalities  of  Can- 
ada, commonly  use  graders  and  crushers,  but  the  purchase  of  a  steam 
roller  is  too  often  delayed.  It  is  to  be  pointed  out  that  the  cost  of  a 
roller  is  by  no  means  an  additional  expense,  since  rolling  effects 
economy  in  several  ways.  Coarser  stone  can  be  used  in  a  road  that  is 
rolled,  so  that  the  cost  of  crushing  is  reduced.  With  coarser  stone, 
the  road  is  stronger  to  resist  wear,  and  is  more  securely  bonded  than 
if  first  rutted  and  mixed  with  mud.  Less  stone  is  required  in  a  rolled 
road,  as  loose  stone  is  largely  forced  down  into  the  mud  before  the 
surface  becomes  water-proof,  or  is  knocked  to  the  ditches  by  traffic. 
Without  rolling,  roads  demand  attention  for  one  or  two  years,  to  rake 
the  stone  to  place  from  time  to  time;  the  earth  shoulders  have  to  be 
restored  and  levelled  where  cut  up  and  destroyed  by  traffic ;  new  mate- 
rial has  to  be  added  to  fill  hollows  and  ruts.  By  rolling  the  sub-grade, 
the  wet  or  weak  spots  are  developed,  which  can  be  drained  or  filled 
with  earth  and  again  rolled  to  produce  a  uniform  foundation;  thereby 
reducing  the  quantity  of  stone  which  the  road  would  otherwise 
absorb.  Long  lines  of  loose  stone  left  for  traffic  to  consolidate  are  a 
most  objectionable  obstruction  to  travel,  and  bring  road-building 
into  disrepute.  On  the  other  hand,  a  road  built  with  a  heavy  roller 
is  a  complete  work,  in  perfect  condition  when  finished.  Rolled  roads 
are  a  revelation  to  those  who  have  been  accustomed  to  and  who 


STONE  AND   GRAVEL  ROADS  41 

expect  only  old-time  methods  and  results.  For  economy,  service, 
and  to  popularize  the  work,  rolling  should  be  regarded  as  essential 
for  every  class  of  gravel  and  stone  roads. 

CHAIRMAN  PARKER:  We  would  like  to  hear  from  Mr.  Bigelow, 
highway  commissioner  of  Pennsylvania,  for  five  minutes. 

MR.  BIGELOW:  Now,  Gentlemen,  what  I  am  going  to  do  is  one 
thing,  and  what  I  have  done  for  the  State  amounts  to  nothing.  In 
Pennsylvania  we  are  just  waking  up,  I  am  sorry  to  say.  When  we 
woke  up  we  found  about  as  poor  roads  as  in  any  State  in  the  United 
States;  but  I  have  made  a  start,  and  the  legislature  has  given  me  over 
$5,000,000  in  cash,  to  spend  next  year,  and  the  next  year  after  that, 
1913,  I  will  have  for  the  first  part  of  the  year  $5,000,000  additional, 
and  beginning  with  about  the  first  of  June,  $50,000,000  additional 
to  that  (applause).  They  passed  a  bill  and  fixed  routes  in  the  bill 
covering  8000  miles  of  roads.  You  gentlemen  who  are  accustomed  to 
building  roads  know  that  8000  miles  of  roads  is  going  to  cost  more 
than  $50,000,000.  But  we  have  no  doubt  in  Pennsylvania  that  we 
will  get  the  money;  we  are  a  very  rich  State,  and  my  opinion  is  that 
before  we  get  through  we  will  spend  more  than  $150,000,000  (applause.) 

I  have  traveled  over  the  State  since  the  middle  of  July  in  an  auto- 
mobile, over  between  5000  and  6000  miles  of  road,  and  we  are  going 
to  go  to  work  as  fast  as  possible  and  get  them  in  condition.  Since 
the  first  of  July  we  have  started  the  work  over  the  mountains,  50 
miles,  and  we  will  finish  that  before  the  next  season  opens.  We  have 
let  the  contract  and  are  working  on  12  miles  of  the  Juniata  River; 
we  will  finish  that  before  the  first  of  the  season.  We  calculate  that 
we  will  build  300  miles  of  roads  next  year,  and  get  ready  for  the 
$50,000,000  at  the  commencement  of  the  next  year  (applause). 

The  road  subject  is  not  a  new  one  to  me,  I  have  been  at  it  for  forty 
years.  Conditions  have  changed,  though,  and  you  know  the  top 
metal  or  the  top  course  is  the  important  one  at  present  for  wear. 
I  found  a  road  in  Pennsylvania,  built  in  1818  by  the  United  States 
government;  they  put  in  a  good  foundation,  and  there  are  miles  of 
it  there  today.  That  is  what  we  want  to  try  to  do  now,  build  from  the 
bottom  up  and  not  from  the  top  down. 

I  found  in  traveling  over  the  country  that  the  idea  seems  to  be 
growing  to  build  cheap  roads,  to  get  them  for  $4000  a  mile,  $3000 
a  mile,  or  $2000  a  mile.  You  can't  do  it.  You  might  build  a  mud 


42  AMERICAN  ROAD   CONGRESS 

road  for  that.  Now  I  am  not  going  to  build  cheaper  roads,  I  am  going 
to  try  to  learn  a  lesson  from  the  government  road,  that  national 
pike,  so  that  if  they  look  at  my  roads,  a  hundred  years  from  now,  they 
will  find  something  left  there;  I  am  given  a  free  hand,  I  am  responsible 
to  no  person;  if  I  do  not  build  the  roads  right  and  lasting,  I  will  be 
damned,  and  I  am  not  going  to  be  damned  (applause). 

In  the  last  five  or  six  or  eight  years,  we  have  had  all  kinds  of  "  ites  " 
— Warrenite,  McNickelite,  and  a  great  many  others.  Now  you  ought 
to  be  very  careful  about  putting  those  "ites"  down  on  top.  If  that 
is  the  proper  pavement  to  put  down  for  the  location,  build  it  right, 
build  it  from  the  bottom  up,  build  the  foundation  right.  We  are  going 
to  build  in  that  way  to  the  adjoining  States,  and  try  to  connect  up 
and  get  a  system;  and  after  we  get  some  of  those  roads  built,  we  are 
going  to  take  care  of  them. 

We  have  in  Pennsylvania  today,  800  miles  of  what  are  known  as 
State  roads,  built  by  the  State  to  be  taken  care  of  by  the  townships. 
I  will  venture  to  say  that  there  has  not  been  10  miles  of  the  800  taken 
care  of  since  it  was  finished.  The  result  is  that  they  are  worn  out  and 
have  got  to  be  rebuilt.  Beginning  with  the  first  of  December,  of 
this  year,  we  are  going  to  establish  a  maintenance  department  cover- 
ing the  entire  State;  and  under  the  act  I  am  entitled  to  fifty  superin- 
tendents. If  it  is  necessary,  we  will  have  fifty  districts  with  all  neces- 
sary machinery  for  each  district;  and  after  that  we  are  going  to  have 
a  patrol  system  on  every  road,  and  every  patrolman  will  have  his 
wheel-barrow,  his  pick  and  shovel  and  barrel  of  tar  to  fix  the  little 
holes  and  keep  the  road  constantly  in  repair.  That  is  the  secret  of 
road  building  and  maintenance,  to  build  from  the  foundation  up  and 
to  keep  the  roads  constantly  in  repair,  and  that  is  what  we  are  going 
to  do  in  Pennsylvania  (applause). 

CHAIRMAN  PARKER:  We  will  now  hear  from  Mr.  Cooley,  of 
Minnesota. 

MR.  COOLEY:  I  did  not  know  I  was  to  be  assigned  any  place  on 
this  program;  I  understand  the  meeting  today,  was  for  the  benefit 
of  the  engineers  and  contractors,  in  order  that  we  might  exchange 
our  views  and  learn  from  each  other.  Now  the  best  way  we  can  get 
new  ideas  here,  is  for  each  of  us  to  give  a  little  of  the  history  of  his 
own  State,  and  so  learn  from  others  some  of  the  history  of  other  States. 

Minnesota  has  about  80,000  miles  of  road  and  about  80,000  square 


STONE  AND   GRAVEL  ROADS  43 

miles  of  territory,  so  we  have  about  one  mile  of  road  to  each  square 
mile  of  territory.  Our  system  of  State  roads  is  different  from  the 
general  rule.  Our  highway  commission  does  not  build  any  roads, 
it  does  not  establish  any  State  roads,  but  that  is  left  entirely  to  the 
counties.  The  county  designates  certain  roads  out  of  the  80,000 
miles  as  State  roads;  the  object  of  giving  them  that  name  and  putting 
them  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  State,  is  in  order  that  the  highway 
commission  can  enforce  the  regulations  in  regard  to  them,  which  pro- 
vides that  whenever  a  road  is  designated  as  a  State  road,  it  must 
thereafter  be  maintained  under  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the  high- 
way commission.  Our  80,000  miles  of  roads  consist  almost  exclu- 
sively of  earth  roads,  at  least  95  per  cent  of  our  roads  are  earth  roads  and 
will  be  for  several  years  to  come.  The  proposition  before  us  today 
is  not  the  construction  of  expensive  macadam  or  gravel  roads, 
but  the  building  and  maintaining  of  roads  that  metal  may  be  put  on 
in  the  future.  It  resolves  itself  into  two  things;  first,  complete  and 
proper  drainage,  and  next,  complete  and  proper  foundation.  So 
looking  forward  to  the  time  when  we  will  have  a  system  of  expensive 
macadam  roads,  we  are  establishing  a  plan  of  having  such  repairs 
made  in  a  permanent  manner.  We  do  not  allow  any  perishable  mate- 
rial in  them,  because  that  would  detract  from  the  foundation.  When 
we  come  to  build  our  good  roads,  we  will  have  the  experience  of  our 
predecessors  and  their  failures  to  guide  us,  so  that  we  will  not  make 
the  same  blunders  that  are  being  made  today. 

That,  in  brief,  is  the  history  of  road-building  in  Minnesota.  We 
appropriate  each  year  a  small  amount;  heretofore  it  has  been  one- 
twentieth  of  a  mill  tax.  Next  year  we  will  have  $300,000  to  spend, 
and  we  do  not  spend  that  money  ourselves,  but  it  is  provided  that  the 
county  shall  receive  a  certain  proportion,  not  more  than  three  per 
cent  nor  less  than  one  and  one-half,  and  that  money  is  expended 
under  the  highway  commission.  If  we  carry  a  proposed  amendment 
to  the  constitution,  it  will  give  us  a  one  mill  tax,  and  after  1913,  we 
will  have  one  and  a  quarter  million  dollars,  and  the  counties  must 
put  up  as  much  as  we  put  up.  All  the  work  done  on  the  roads  is 
done  under  men  appointed  under  the  supervision  of  the  highway  com- 
mission. We  have  fifty  roads  engineers  now,  and  we  are  putting 
in  a  system  of  patrols  as  an  experiment  to  demonstrate  the  value  of 
a  continuous  road  maintenance  force.  The  roads  of  Germany  and 
England  and  the  Scandinavian  Peninsula,  owe  their  excellence,  not 
to  the  excellent  way  in  which  they  are  built  so  much  as  to  the  excellent 


44  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

system  of  maintenance;  and  we  think  that  for  the  permanent  improve- 
ment of  roads  it  is  necessary  to  adopt  a  complete  system  of  mainten- 
ance. 

CHAIRMAN  PARKER:  The  next  to  address  us  is  Captain  Wilson, 
of  Virginia.  There  is  nobody  in  Virginia  who  is  not  acquainted  with 
him,  and  a  great  many  outside  of  Virginia  know  him.  His  distinction 
has  reached  as  far  as  the  backwoods  of  Massachusetts. 

EARTH  AND  SAND-CLAY  ROADS 

CAP'TAIN  P.  ST.  JULIEN  WILSON 
State  Highway  Commissioner  of  Virginia 

From  the  best  information  obtainable  we  learn  that  only  8£  per 
cent  of  the  roads  in  the  United  States  are  hard-surfaced.  When 
we  consider  this  fact  together  with  the  cost  of  surfacing  roads  under 
favorable  conditions  with  stone  or  gravel  and  the  impracticability  of 
doing  it  at  all  in  many  sections  of  the  country  on  acccount  of  the 
absence  of  the  surfacing  material,  we  realize  at  once  that  the  question 
of  the  proper  construction  and  care  of  our  earth  roads  is  a  most  vital 
one. 

When  properly  constructed,  well  maintained  and  judiciously  used 
the  earth  road  fills  the  requirement  of  country  traffic  for  much  the 
large  portion  of  the  year;  the  period  of  bad  roads  varying  with  climatic 
conditions  and  the  material  of  which  the  road  is  composed. 

In  the  construction  of  earth  roads  the  location  is  of  first  importance. 
This,  after  all,  is  the  only  really  permanent  thing  in  connection  with 
any  class  of  road,  and,  if  possible,  is  of  more  importance  to  the  earth 
road  than  to  any  other  because  its  surface  has  less  power  to  withstand 
the  bad  effects  due  to  improper  location.  In  making  locations  many 
conditions  have  to  be  considered  together,  the  two  most  important  of 
which  are  the  grade  and  drainage.  The  grade  on  an  earth  road  should 
not  be  greater  than  4  per  cent  or  5  per  cent,  that  is  a  rise  of  4  feet 
or  5  feet  in  100,  not  4  degrees  as  is  provided  in  the  old  Virginia  law 
and  which  is  equivalent  to  7  per  cent;  as  a  grade  is  increased  beyond 
this  rate  the  load  which  one  horse  can  draw  decreases  very  rapidly 
and  with  light  vehicles  it  is  about  the  maximum  grade  that  a  team 
will  trot  up  or  down  without  considerable  difficulty.  The  grade  of 
a  road  also  seriously  effects  the  maintenance.  The  steeper  the  grade 


EARTH  AND  SAND-CLAY  ROADS  45 

the  harder  the  road  is  to  maintain.  The  cross  grade  or  crown  of  a 
road  should  not  exceed  1  inch  to  the  foot  or  1  foot  in  12  feet,  which  is 
about  8  per  cent.  The  longitudinal  grade  of  the  road  should  always 
be  less  than  the  cross  grade,  otherwise  the  water  will  run  down  the 
road  instead  of  across  to  the  ditches,  thus  causing  serious  damage  by 
washing.  So  for  maintenance  as  well  as  for  economic  hauling  the 
grade  should  be  kept  within  the  limit  of  5  per  cent,  and  considerable 
expenditures  in  grading  or  in  acquiring  new  rights  of  way  may  be 
justified  to  secure  such  a  grade.  Where  it  is  impossible  to  secure 
the  low  grades  it  will  be  necessary  to  construct  water-breaks  in  the 
road  to  prevent  the  rapid  flow  of  water  down  the  center.  The  best 
form  of  break  is  in  the  shape  of  the  letter  V  with  the  point  up  the 
hill  making  a  drain  to  both  side  ditches,  but  however  well  constructed 
these  breaks  are,  they  are  hard  on  vehicles  and  a  serious  inconven- 
ience to  travel,  and  are  not  recommended  except  as  a  last  resort. 

Thorough  drainage  is  absolutely  essential  for  a  good  road.  The 
water  should  be  taken  off  of  the  road  as  rapidly  as  possible  and  then 
away  from  the  road  at  frequent  intervals.  To  accomplish  this,  there 
must  be  a  crown  or  cross  grade  to  carry  the  water  to  the  side  ditches. 
This  crown,  as  stated  before,  should  not  exceed  1  inch  to  the  foot;  if 
too  steep,  it  will  cause  too  rapid  a  flow  and  consequent  washing  of 
ruts  in  the  surface.  However  it  will  have  a  tendency  to  concentrate 
the  traffic  in  the  center  of  the  road,  and  therefore,  on  only  a  small 
portion  of  it  causing  rapid  wear  and  wheel  ruts,  these  ruts  in  time 
collecting  water  and  starting  a  flow  down  the  road.  The  water 
delivered  to  the  side  ditches  should  be  carried  off  immediately  by 
those  ditches,  on  a  uniform  grade  with  no  holes  to  form  pools  from 
which  the  water  will  soak  under  the  road  and  soften  it. 

In  the  construction  of  all  ditches  care  should  be  taken  to  slope  the 
banks  sufficiently  to  prevent  their  sloughing  in  very  wet  or  freezing 
weather  and  stopping  the  ditches.  The  side  ditches  should  be  relieved 
frequently  by  cutting  drains  away  from  them  or  carrying  the  water 
under  the  road  in  culverts.  Large  quantities  of  water  accumulating 
in  ditches  when  flowing  rapidly  scour  them  and  soon  seriously  damage 
the  road.  It  is  always  best,  of  course,  where  possible,  to  keep  a  road 
on  high  ground,  but  when  it  is  necessary  to  go  on  low  marshy  ground, 
the  road-bed  should  be  well  thrown  up  and  the  ditches  deepened 
sufficiently  to  thoroughly  drain  the  foundation. 

Another  thing  to  be  considered  in  the  location  of  a  road  is  sunshine. 
Always  locate  an  earth  road  where  it  will  get  as  much  sunshine  as 


46  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

possible  unless  the  material  is  very  sandy.  A  road  of  deep  sand  is 
always  best  when  wet,  like  the  seashore  at  low-tide. 

It  is  always  well  to  consider  the  material  over  which  a  road  is  to  be 
located.  Soils  vary  greatly  in  road-building  qualities  as  they  do  for 
agricultural  purposes.  As  a  rule,  the  clays  and  soils  of  fine  texture 
make  poor  roads  while  the  coarser  and  sandy  soils  make  better  ones, 
of  course,  topographical  and  other  conditions  will  often  prevent  the 
location  of  a  road  over  the  best  material  which  is  almost  immediately 
at  hand.  In  such  cases  the  surface  of  the  road  can  be  greatly  improved 
at  small  cost  by  covering  the  whole  road  or  the  worse  sections  of  it 
with  this  near  by  material.  In  the  construction  of  earth  roads  as 
with  others,  the  surfaces  should  be  made  uniform.  Always  fill  a 
depression  with  the  same  material  as  that  in  the  road.  Do  not  fill  a 
mudhole  with  stone  and  in  a  short  time  have  two  holes,  one  at  each 
end  of  the  pile  of  stone,  or  with  brush  or  vegetable  matter,  which  will 
SOOD  decay  and  form  a  spongy  spot  to  absorb  the  moisture. 

In  quite  a  large  section  of  Virginia,  we  have  found  top  soils  which 
make  excellent  road-surfacing  material.  In  one  county  we  have 
constructed  some  fifty  miles  of  this  road  (at  a  cost  averaging  $900 
per  mile)  which  compares  very  favorably  with  gravel  roads  built 
in  other  sections  at  considerably  greater  cost.  The  method  of  con- 
structing these  soils  roads  is  extremely  simple ;  the  material  is  spread 
upon  the  road  about  12  inches  deep  at  the  center,  the  thickness 
decreasing  to  8  inches  at  6  feet  or  7  feet  from  the  center  and  nothing 
at  the  edge  of  the  ditch,  the  crown  being  about  \  inch  to  the  foot. 
The  road  is  kept  in  shape  by  use  of  the  road  machine  or  road  drag 
until  it  is  compacted  by  traffic  and  one  or  two  good  rains,  this  method 
being  found  for  this  particular  kind  of  work  equally  as  effective  and 
much  less  expensive  than  rolling  and  sprinking.  In  localities  where 
these  soils  are  to  be  found  in  any  quantity  we  find  more  or  less  fre- 
quently sections  of  road  which  keep  in  good  order  always.  If  material 
similar  to  that  composing  these  sections  is  used  on  other  portions 
of  the  road,  good  results  may  be  looked  for. 

Another  improved  earth  road  very  generally  used  throughout 
the  South  is  the  sand-clay  road,  made,  as  its  name  indicates,  by  a 
mixture  of  sand  and  clay.  In  large  areas  in  the  Atlantic  and  Gulf 
States  the  materials  for  this  class  of  road  are  abundant  and  not  infre- 
quently they  are  found  already  mixed  by  nature  in  the  right  propor- 
tions to  form  an  excellent  road.  Where  such  sections  of  natural  sand- 
clay  road  are  found  one  cannot  do  better  in  building  a  new  road  then 


EARTH  AND  SAND-CLAY  ROADS  47 

to  duplicate  the  mixture  already  proven  satisfactory  as  suggested 
above  in  connection  with  soil  roads. 

The  ideal  sand-clay  road  is  one  in  which  there  is  just  enough  clay 
to  fill  the  voids  between  the  grains  of  sand.  Any  surplus  of  clay 
tends  in  wet  weather  to  soften  the  road,  to  stick  to  wheels  and  con- 
sequently form  irregularities  in  the  surface  of  the  road.  On  the  other 
hand,  a  surplus  of  sand  causes  the  road  to  disintegrate  in  dry  weather 
when  the  sand  will  be  removed  by  traffic  with  the  same  result.  To 
secure  the  best  results,  therefore,  sand  must  be  added  when  there  is 
a  surplus  of  clay  and  clay  when  there  is  a  suplus  of  sand.  The  amount 
of  sand  or  clay,  as  the  case  may  be,  to  be  added  to  the  road  has  to 
be  determined  largely  by  experiment  in  each  case  as  the  materials 
vary  greatly  in  quality,  the  tendency  is  rather  to  use  too  little  sand 
on  a  clay  road  or  too  much  clay  on  a  sand  road.  We  have  often  gotten 
very  good  results  when  there  was  from  2  inches  to  4  inches  of  loose 
sand  over  a  sand-clay  subsoil  by  simply  plowing  the  road  and  bringing 
some  of  the  clay  to  the  surface  and  mixing. 

In  the  construction  of  sand-clay  roads  it  is  absolutely  essential  that 
the  ingredients  shall  be  thoroughly  mixed  and  puddled.  This  is 
most  easily  done  after  a  heavy  rain,  the  sand  or  clay  having  been  pre- 
viously spread,  and,  if  clay,  all  lumps  having  been  broken,  the  mixing 
may  then  be  done  with  a  plow,  or  better,  with  a  disc  harrow.  This 
mixing  is  sometimes  left  to  be  done  by  the  passing  traffic,  but  that 
should  be  avoided  when  possible. 

It  is  frequently  necessary  to  make  several  applications  of  clay  or 
sand  to  portions  of  a  road  before  a  proper  mixture  is  secured.  After 
the  mixing  has  been  completed  the  road  should  be  kept  in  proper 
shape  with  a  road  machine  or  drag,  as  it  dries  out,  and  kept  with  the 
proper  crown  until  it  becomes  compacted.  All  that  has  been  said  in 
connection  with  the  location,  drainage,  etc,  of  earth  roads  is  equally 
applicable  to  sand-clay  roads. 

After  a  road  is  built,  whether  of  plain  earth,  or  with  some  surfacing 
material  it  should  be  kept  as  nearly  as  possible  in  the  improved  con- 
dition; that  can  only  be  done  by  constant  care  and  frequent  repairs 
these  may  be  slight  and  inexpensive,  but  they  are  nevertheless  imper- 
ative. No  annual  or  semi-annual  round  of  repairs  will  keep  a  road 
in  first  class  condition.  One  day's  work  each  month  on  a  road  is  far 
better  than  twelve  days'  work  once  a  year. 

A  choked  culvert  or  a  ditch  can  be  opened  at  small  cost,  but,  if 
left  stopped,  will  cause  damage  to  the  road  many  times  more  expensive 


48  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

to  repair.  In  cleaning  out  ditches  the  material  should  not  be  thrown 
into  the  middle  of  the  road  to  raise  the  worn  down  center  or  to  fill 
ruts  or  holes,  for  this  material  is  generally  composed  to  large  extent 
of  vegetable  matter  and  fine  silt  and  will  make  the  road  soft  and 
spongy.  Nor  should  it  be  placed  along  the  edges  of  the  road,  I  have 
not  infrequently  seen  a  road  force  cleaning  out  the  ditches  to  drain 
a  road  and  deliberately  distributing  material  along  the  edges  of  the 
road,  thus  forming  a  dam  to  prevent  the  water  from  flowing  into  the 
ditches.  This  material  should  be  thrown  entirely  out  of  the  road 
and  far  enough  away  not  to  be  washed  back  into  the  ditches  by  the 
first  hard  rain. 

For  the  maintenance  of  the  surface  of  an  earth  or  sand-clay  road 
probably  no  implement  is  so  effective  or  cheap  as  the  road  drag, 
the  most  common  and  widely  known  form  of  which  is  no  doubt  the 
split  log  drag.  Pamphlets  descriptive  of  this  implement  and  its  use 
may  be  obtained  from  any  State  highway  department  or  from  the 
Office  of  Public  Roads  at  Washington.  A  suggestion  in  reference  to  it 
may  not  be  amiss  here :  Do  not  make  the  drag  too  heavy — a  great 
many  people  in  beginning  the  use  of  a  drag  seem  to  have  the  idea 
that  the  heavier  it  is  the  more  work  it  will  do.  This  is  a  mistake — 
it  is  much  more  effective  when  light.  A  drag  should  be  used  after 
every  heavy  rain,  though  good  results  have  been  obtained  by  using 
it  less  frequently,  say  once  in  three  or  four  weeks.  The  dragging 
should  be  done  when  the  soil  is  moist  but  not  sticky.  If  the  road  is 
badly  rutted  or  full  of  holes,  one  dragging  while  it  is  quite  soft  is 
beneficial. 

In  order  to  keep  earth  roads  in  fair  condition  in  winter,  some  limit 
should  be  fixed  as  to  their  use,  Heavy  loads  hauled  over  them  on 
narrow  tires  when  they  are  soft  will  necessarily  destroy  the  smooth 
surface.  If  the  general  use  of  wide  tires  could  be  inaugurated,  it 
would,  in  my  judgment,  do  more  for  the  protection  of  earth  roads, 
than  any  other  legislation,  and,  if  the  people  are  given  a  reasonable 
time  in  which  to  substitute  them  for  the  narrow  ones,  no  hardships 
would  be  worked. 

CHAIRMAN  PARKER:  The  chair  will  call  upon  Mr.  Marker,  State 
Highway  Commissioner  of  Ohio,  to  discuss  the  subject  of  the  paper. 

MR.  MARKER:  I  was  rather  taken  by  surprise  a  few  minutes  ago 
when  I  came  into  the  hall  and  was  told  that  I  was  expected  to  get 


EARTH  AND  SAND-CLAY  ROADS  49 

up  here  and  tell  you  folks  what  we  are  doing  in  Ohio.  I  try  to  keep 
out  of  such  entanglements  myself;  I  am  not  a  public  speaker,  and  since 
you  have  all  listened  to  a  flow  of  oratory  ever  since  you  have  been 
here,  I  feel  that  I  am  a  little  out  of  place.  But,  laying  that  aside, 
I  feel  that  I  ought  to  say  something  in  my  own  humble  way,  concern- 
ing our  State  of  Ohio. 

Highway  development  in  our  State  is  about  seven  years  old. 
It  was  begun  in  1904,  and  it  was  merely  a  nibble  at  that  time.  The 
department  was  composed  of  the  State  highway  commissioner,  one 
deputy  and  three  division  engineers;  the  appropriation  was  very  small, 
divided  among  many  counties,  and  the  department  proceeded  to 
build  sample  pieces  of  road  in  various  places.  These  roads  or  samples 
were  selected  in  most  instances,  by  the  county  commissioners  of  their 
respective  counties,  and  I  want  to  say  that  the  people  in  our  State 
are  looking  out  for  themselves  in  a  measure,  and  it  is  peculiar  to  say 
that  these  samples  were  selected  many  times  alongside  the  commis- 
sioners' homes.  The  old  law  operated  for  about  six  years  until  last 
year,  and  the  growing  demand  for  good  roads  necessitated  a  change. 
Under  the  McGuire  bill  which  was  passed  at  the  recent  session  of  our 
legislature,  the  department  was  reorganized  and  we  now  have  at  the 
head  of  the  department,  the  highway  commissioner,  with  three 
deputies,  eight  division  engineers,  and  numerous  resident  engineers, 
clerks  and  stenographers  and  the  nucleus  of  a  library.  We  have  three 
bureaus,  the  bureau  of  maintenance,  the  bureau  of  construction,  and 
the  bureau  of  bridges.  The  bureau  of  maintenance  is  supposed  to 
take  care  of  the  State  roads,  or  those  roads  built  by  the  use  of  State 
money;  at  present  the  bureau  of  construction  is  classifying  the  roads 
of  the  State  under  what  is  known  as  the  inter-county  system.  The 
bureau  of  bridges  is  taking  care  of  the  bridges  on  the  pieces  of  road 
constructed  by  the  department,  and  they  are  obliged  to  prepare  plans 
and  specifications  for  bridges  for  any  county  that  may  ask  for  them. 
At  present  that  is  not  generally  known  throughout  the  State,  or  we 
fear  that  our  department  would  not  be  able  to  supply  the  demand. 

We  have  in  our  State  about  90,000  miles  of  road,  in  round  numbers, 
about  5000  miles  of  which  are  free  delivery  routes,  and  about  8000 
miles  would  fit  into  an  inter-county  system.  Our  levy  gives  us  this 
year  about  $630,000  for  the  construction  of  roads.  This  money  is 
divided  equally  among  the  eighty-eight  counties.  Before  any  of  this 
money  is  applicable  to  a  county,  the  county  must  raise  an  equal 
amount  or  more;  so  we  have,  approximately,  for  construction  this 


50  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

year,  $1,000,000.  We  feel  that  this  amount  is  but  a  drop  in  the  bucket 
for  the  building  of  roads  in  our  State.  Next  year  we  contemplate 
building  about  200  miles.  Assuming  that  we  would  continue  to  build 
200  miles  of  road  a  year,  to  construct  all  the  roads  of  the  State  would 
take  us  about  four  hundred  years;  to  construct  8000  miles  would  take 
us  about  forty  years.  Now  we  want  good  roads  in  our  own  day, 
we  are  not  looking  forward  to  the  future  to  such  an  extent  that  we 
want  to  build  and  prepare  for  posterity  and  pay  for  these  roads  and 
deliver  them  over  in  good  shape.  We  have  the  method,  we  have  the 
equipment  to  build  roads,  but  we  have  not  the  funds  sufficient  to 
build  them,  so  we  are  working  towards  that  end.  The  present  State 
constitution  limits  the  State  in  the  issue  of  bonds  to  about  $750,000 
for  all  purposes;  if  that  were  divided  up  equally,  it  would  not  mean . 
much  for  good  roads.  The  next  constitutional  convention  will  assem- 
ble in  January,  and  the  good  roads  enthusiasts  in  our  State  are  going 
to  force  through  a  raising  of  the  bond  limit  that  we  may  be  able  to 
bond  the  State  for  the  sum  of  $50,000,000  for  good  roads.  That  is 
our  program  and  that  is  what  we  are  working  towards.  We  want 
State  aid,  and  we  are  not  going  to  stop  at  State  aid;  we  are  for  Federal 
aid.  We  are  pledging  our  congressmen,  and  we  are  pledging  our 
senators;  and  we  hope  in  the  course  of  ten  or  fifteen  years,  to  have 
the  roads  in  our  State  up  to  a  very  high  standard,  and  we  expect  to 
do  that  by  getting  more  means.  We  want  the  federal  government  to 
help  us  and  help  the  rest  of  you  (applause). 

CHAIRMAN  PARKER:  The  program  will  now  proceed  with  a  paper 
delivered  by  Major  W.  W.  Crosby,  of  Baltimore,  who  is  the  State 
highway  engineer  of  Maryland. 

BITUMINOUS  ROADS 

MAJ.  W.  W.  CROSBY 

Chief  Engineer,  Maryland  Roads  Commission 

It  is  not  the  purpose  of  the  speaker  to  trace  the  history  of  bituminous 
road  work  from  the  early  efforts  of  the  Peruvians,  nor  even  to  review 
the  work  of  this  country  for  the  past  forty  years,  but  rather  to  touch 
merely  on  some  of  the  points  in  it  at  present  of  so  much  common 
interest  and,  in  so  doing,  perhaps  to  suggest  a  thought  or  two  that  may 
be  of  value  in  stimulating  consideration  and  discussion  of  this  impor- 
tant subject. 


BITUMINOUS  ROADS  51 

For  surfacing  roads — usually  called  " streets" — in  cities,  the  larger 
practice  with  bitumen  has  been  to  use  it  in  the  form  of  asphaltic 
cement,  such  as  in  sheet  (or  block)  asphalt  pavements.  Such  pave- 
ments, under  proper  conditions,  give  good  satisfaction  at  reasonable 
expense.  The  first  cost  of  them  varies  between  $1.50  and  $3.50  per 
square  yard,  however,  and  in  recent  years  an  effort  has  been  made  to 
secure  a  similar  surface,  of  even  wider  applicability,  at  reduced  cost. 
Incidentally,  success  in  this  line  would  offer  a  much  needed  surfacing 
for  filling  the  gap  between  the  best  macadam — cheap  but  sometimes 
of  questionable  satisfaction,  and  the  rather  expensive  asphalt  pave- 
ments referred  to. 

In  this  effort,  the  use  of  cheaper  bitumens —  such  as  the  tars  for 
instance—  has  been  tried  and  also  new  methods  and  mineral  materials 
for  the  body  of  the  pavments  cheaper  than  the  graded  hot  sand  required 
for  the  sheet  asphalt.  Much  success  has  been  had  and,  naturally, 
some  failures.  This  work,  as  a  whole  however,  in  the  cities  has  been 
so  like  the  development  of  the  country  roads  along  the  same  lines, 
and  the  distinction  between  a  highly  developed  country  road  and  a 
minor  street  in  a  city  is  so  lacking  in  clearness  that  we  probably  may 
proceed,  with  this  reference  to  city  work,  to  the  consideration  of  road 
work  proper. 

Bituminous  roads  constitute  a  modern  development  to  meet  both 
the  actual  needs  under  modern  traffic  and  the  desires  of  modern 
civilization  for  greater  efficiency,  comfort,  satisfaction  and  better 
sanitary  conditions.  The  advent  of  the  motor  vehicle  has  greatly 
changed  the  conditions  under  which  a  road  existed.  Good  roads  are 
in  greater  demand  owing  to  the  greater  radius  of  action  of  the  auto- 
mobile. Smoother  roads  are  more  desired  because  of  its  sensitiveness, 
at  its  greater  speeds,  to  the  slighter  inequalities  of  the  road  surface. 
More  cementitious  surfaces  are  needed,  due  to  its  ability  to  destroy 
the  bond  of  the  stone  surface,  to  cause  internal  friction  and  wear  of 
the  pieces  of  stone  forming  the  crust,  and  to  render  the  road  thus  more 
susceptible  to  the  elements.  And  further,  the  dust,  which  formerly 
laid  on  a  good  road  surface  and,  which,  when  not  too  profuse,  was  not 
only  not  seriously  objected  to,  but  was  of  some  actual  value  in  the 
protection  which  it  afforded  the  stones  composing  the  road,  has  been 
violently  brought  to  our  attention  by  the  motor —  so  violently  and 
powerfully  in  fact  that  we  are  now  well  aware  that,  under  present 
conditions  at  least,  the  disadvantages,  discomforts,  and  unhealth- 
f ulness  of  this  dust  far  outweigh  any  good  it  may  formerly  have  pos- 
sessed. 


52  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

None  of  us  believe  that  the  remedy  for  this  state  of  affairs  is  the  aboli- 
tion of  the  motor-vehicle.  Most  of  us  who  do  not  possess  one  are 
looking  forward  to  the  day  when  we  may,  and  most  of  those  who 
already  are  fortunate  enough  to  own  one  are  anticipating  the  posses- 
sion of  two  or  of  more. 

So  the  remedy  seems  to  be  to  cure  the  defects  of  the  road.  And 
the  speaker  wishes  to  here  again  repeat  what  he  has  frequently  said 
before,  i.e.,  there  is  no  one  "best  way"  nor  one  "best  material." 
The  decision  as  to  method  or  material  to  be  used  must  depend  in  each 
case  upon  conditions  of  traffic,  availability  of  different  materials, 
desires  of  locality,  and  probable  changes  of  conditions  during  the 
life  of  the  work  decided  on  to  be  done.  A  clear  recognition  of  this 
fact  is  important  for  good  work  and  economy.  It  is  somewhat  sur- 
prising how  often  it  appears  to  be  overlooked  even  among  those  who 
would  be  expected  to  appreciate  it  most. 

Let  us  suppose  now  that  we  have  the  improvement  of  a  certain 
road  contemplated;  that  the  details  have  all  been  worked  out 
except  as  regards  the  road  surface  itself;  that  there  is  no  question 
but  that  as  soon  as  the  road  improvement  is  completed,  a  considerable 
number  of  motor-vehicles  will  use  the  road  daily,  say,  not  less  than 
twenty  every  twenty-four  hours.  Then  there  is  no  question  but  that 
the  road  should  be  treated  with  bitumen  either  during  or  immediately 
after  the  construction  of  the  surface  with  gravel,  shells  or  broken 
stone,  if  economical  and  satisfactory  maintenance  is  to  be  had. 

Its  treatment  may  also  be  justified  for  other  reasons. 

There  may  be  said  to  be  three  ways  in  which  a  road  surface  may 
be  treated  with  bitumens.  There  are  (a)  The  mixing  method;  (6) 
The  penetration  method;  (c)  The  method  of  surface  applications  after 
construction  in  the  ordinary  manner. 

A  choice  of  these  methods  depends,  as  before  stated,  upon  condi- 
tions. Such  choice  may  be  largely  affected  by  traffic  figures  but 
it  is  not  yet  clearly  established  just  what  amount  of  traffic  demands 
justifies  a  selection  of  one  method  from  the  others.  We  are  acquir- 
ing information  on  this  point  and  it  is  hoped  it  may  soon  be  clear. 

Generally,  however,  the  choice  is  largely  affected  by  other  consid- 
erations, such  as  of  comfort,  health  and  satisfaction  to  the  users 
or  abuttors  and  the  speaker  believes  that  in  making  the  choice  it  is 
well  to  be  on  the  safe  side  from  all  these  view-points.  It  is  almost 
inevitable  that,  once  a  road  is  well  improved,  the  previous  traffic 
records  will  become  almost  worthless  except  for  historical  purposes. 


BITUMINOUS  KOADS  53 

Consequently  be  believes  that  apparent  extravagance  in  the  choice 
at  first  may  often  prove  later  to  have  been  true  economy. 

Although  the  speaker  referred  to  construction  alone  in  the  fore- 
going, the  remarks  apply  equally  well  to  reconstruction  or  repairs 
to  a  road  that  has  deteriorated  beyond  the  point  where  a  surface 
treatment  alone  can  be  safely  expected  to  relieve  the  needs.  At  this 
point  the  speaker  must  inject  the  remark  that  it  is  his  opinion  that 
reconstruction  is  often  attempted  when  a  thorough  surface  treatment 
is  all  that  is  needed — not  true  economy.  He  is  convinced  that  in 
the  near  future  the  use  of  proper  surface  treatments  will  be  far  wider 
and  of  greater  satisfaction  than  it  has  been  up  to  the  present 

Now,  the  mixing  method,  as  the  term  is  generally  understood,  con- 
sists of  mixing  with  the  mineral  material  composing  the  wearing 
course  of  the  road  a  sufficient  amount  of  bituminous  cement.  This 
mixing  is  usually  done  at  a  plant  off  the  roadway  itself  and  even  per- 
haps some  distance  from  the  site  of  the  work.  The  materials  may  be 
mixed,  either  heated,  or  at  the  normal  temperatures  of  either  or  both 
according  to  the  method  and  materials  employed,  and  by  hand  or 
by  machinery  for  the  purpose  as  desired.  The  mixed  material  is 
then  taken  to  its  place,  spread  and  rolled  and  then  frequently  given  a 
flush  coat  of  bitumen  and  grit  and  again  rolled.  Satisfactory  results 
from  this  method  cost  from  30  cents  to  $1.50  per  square  yard  over 
and  above  what  would  have  been  the  cost  of  an  ordinary  modern 
water  bound  road  under  the  same  conditions.  The  advantages  claimed 
for  the  mixing  method  by  its  advocates  include  great  uniformity  of 
surface  and  of  composition  of  same,  maximum  value  of  surface  for 
materials  used,  economy  in  use  of  materials,  maximum  life  of  surface 
and  economy  of  results.  There  seems  to  be  no  question  but  that  the 
mixing  method  has  been  proved  capable  of  producing  high  class 
results.  There  is  grave  doubt  if  it  has  always  been  the  economical 
method  to  have  followed,  and  there  are  many  instances  of  its  utter 
failure.  The  mixing  method  frequently  involves  a  considerable  invest- 
ment for  machinery  and  this  fact  with  the  higher  first  cost  has  led  to 
the  development  of  the  penetration  method. 

In  brief,  the  penetration  method  consists  of  simply  applying  a  coat 
of  pitch  to  the  wearing  course  of  the  road  just  before  the  binding  of 
this  course  by  dusting,  watering  and  rolling  as  usually  practiced  in 
modern  water-bound  work.  The  pitch  may  be  applied  cold  if  properly 
prepared,  though  it  is  usually  used  hot,  After  its  application,  the 
pitch  is  coated  with  grit  and  the  road  thoroughly  rolled.  The  cost 


54  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

of  the  penetration  method  varies  between  10  cents  and  60  cents  per 
square  yard,  above  the  cost  of  water  bound  work  under  the  same  con- 
ditions, according  to  methods,  materials  and  quantities  of  the  latter 
used.  The  advantages  claimed  by  its  advocates  include  sufficient 
uniformity  of  surface,  economy  in  first  cost,  economy  in  long  run, 
simplicity  of  operation  and  avoidance  of  complicated  and  expensive 
machinery,  not  to  mention  freedom  from  interference  by  patent 
infringement  claims. 

There  is  no  doubt  but  that  high  class  results  can  be  secured  by  the 
penetration  method.  There  are  plenty  of  records  of  failures  however. 

The  method  of  surface  treatment  is  only  applicable  to  road  surfaces 
already  finished  under  other  methods, — usually  to  old  or  new  water- 
bound  work.  In  brief,  the  method  consists  of  cleaning  the  old  surfaces 
to  be  treated  so  that  it  shall  be  free  from  all  fine  material  and  refuse, 
even  to  washing  it  with  water  if  this  be  necessary.  After  such  clean- 
ing, and  when  as  dry  and  warm  as  practicable,  the  pitch  is  applied; 
allowed  to  soak  into  the  surface  for  a  longer  or  shorter  time  as  the 
material  used  may  demand;  then  covered  with  grit,  and  rolled.  The 
process  of  applying  pitch  and  chips  may  be  repeated  immediately, 
or  after  an  interval  as  may  be  necessary.  Sometimes  two  or  more 
applications  of  pitch  and  chips  are  necessary  for  satisfactory  results, 
and  the  interval  between  applications  may  vary  from  a  day  or  so  to 
a  year  or  more,  depending  on  local  conditions.  The  pitch  may  be 
spread  by  hand  or  machinery  as  convenient,  and  either  cold  or  hot, 
as  its  character  may  permit. 

The  cost  of  surface  treatments  varies  from  5  cents  to  20  cents  per 
square  yard.  The  advantages  claimed  for  this  method  by  its  advo- 
cates include  simplicity  of  work,  economy  of  first  cost  and,  in  many 
cases,  economy  in  long  run,  lack  of  serious  interruption  to  use  of  the 
road,  ease  of  repairs  and  renewal.  Unquestionably  satisfactory  results 
have  been  secured  under  the  method  of  surface  treatments,  and  the 
speaker  believes  this  method  offers  an  easy  and  economical  way  for 
the  revivifying  of  a  road,  about  to  otherwise  need  resurfacing  at  a 
far  greater  cost  under  old  water  bound  methods  or  under  either  of  the 
other  two  methods  of  employing  bitumen. 

The  earlier  success  of  the  mixing  method  and  the  consequent 
attracting  of  attention  to  this  method  led  many  road  workers  to  rush 
into  it,  believing  it  to  be  a  panacea  for  all  the  road  ills  they  were 
familiar  with.  A  little  later  its  extravagance  in  many  cases  became 
apparent  and  the  penetration  method  received  some  followers.  Still 


BITUMINOUS  ROADS  55 

later  the  unnecessary  expense  of  even  this  method  became  apparent 
for  many  cases  and  the  method  of  surface  treatments  developed. 
Unquestionably,  each  method  has  its  uses  and  the  proper  selection 
of  one  for  a  particular  case  is  the  end  to  be  aimed  at.  The  sphere  of 
action  of  each  is  merged  with  or  overlapped  by  those  of  the  others 
and  it  will  be  some  time  yet  before  they  can  be  clearly  separated. 
The  method  of  surface  treatments  is  particularly  applicable  for  use 
on  old  roads,  and  as  water  bound  roads  will  predominate  for  the  near 
future  at  least,  so  will  surface  treatments  grow  in  use. 

The  speaker  is  unable  to  wholly  agree  with  a  statement  that  has 
been  made  elsewhere  to  the  effect  that  "the  water-bound  road  is  a 
thing  of  the  past. "  He  is  yearly  building  a  hundred  or  more  miles 
of  water  bound  road  and  looks  for  such  work  to  be  continued  indefi- 
nitely, as  there  are  many  localities  where  dustiness  is  less  objectionable 
than  increased  first  cost.  But  as  these  water  bound  roads  develop 
traffic  over  them,  and  as  their  extent  and  age  increases,  there  comes  a 
time  when  treatment  is  demanded,  and  then  surface  treatment  with 
pitch  is  often  most  advantageous  and  satisfactory. 

In  each  of  the  methods  referred  to,  a  variety  of  materials  may  be 
used.  At  the  present  time,  except  possibly  in  the  case  of  certain 
asphalts  used  for  pavement  work,  the  critical  characteristics  of  a 
bituminous  material  to  insure  its  being  satisfactory  in  use  under  any 
definite  method  or  conditions  are  not  settled.  Gradually,  experience 
with  them  is  clearing  up  the  probelm,  but  it  is  likely  to  be  some  time 
yet,  owing  to  the  variety  already  available  and  new  forms  yearly 
coming  out,  before  definite  knowledge  will  be  had.  Such  knowledge 
will,  of  course,  be  hastened  by  co-operative  effort,  such  as  this  meet- 
ing, and  careful  co-ordinated  records  of  work  done,  which  records  are 
already  being  collected  by  the  committee  of  the  American  Society 
of  Civil  Engineers.  About  all  that  can  be  said  now  is  that  certain 
materials  will  generally  give  good  results;  many  materials  will  be  satis- 
factory when  properly  used;  some  are  extremely  limited  in  their 
application;  and  some  are  practically  worthless. 

In  the  foregoing,  we  have  perhaps  dealt  mainly  with  the  use  of 
bitumens  or  pitches  in  connection  with  ordinary  road  materials. 
And,  it  may  seem  that  it  all  was  toward  the  end  of  improving  what 
would,  in  many  cases,  have  been  a  fair  road,  or  under  earlier  condi- 
tions have  been  an  excellent  road.  There  is,  however,  another  large 
consideration  for  the  wider  use  of  bituminous  materials  in  road  work. 
By  such  use,  many  materials  otherwise  unfit  for  road  surfaces — such 


56  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

for  instance,  as  the  harder  sandstones,  granites,  flints,  etc.,  without 
binding  powers — can  be  most  satisfactorily  availed  of  to  great  advant- 
age in  many  cases.  Also,  by  the  use  of  bituminous  materials,  oyster 
shells,  marl  and  even  sand,  can  be  made  to  cheaply  form  a  road  surface 
that  is  both  highly  satisfactory  and  most  economical  in  a  great  many 
instances.  And  again,  by  the  use  of  a  relatively  light  and  cheap 
"carpeting"  of  pitch  and  stone  chips  on  its  surface,  the  speaker 
believes  many,  if  not  all,  of  the  defects  of  concrete  for  a  road  surface 
will  be  overcome.  If  so,  a  large  avenue  is  opened  for  progress  toward 
satisfaction  and  economy. 

The  selection  of  proper  methods  and  materials  to  fit  the  conditions 
is  the  particular  province  of  the  unbiased  and  competent  expert, 
and  should  not  be  attempted  by  the  inexperienced  nor  entrusted  to  an 
ignorant  or  prejudiced  party  unless  failure  in  some  feature  of  the  work 
is  to  be  expected. 

The  speaker  wishes  to  briefly  suggest  two  thoughts  more : 
The  first  cost  of  bituminous  roads  is  not  a  correct  basis  for  the  proper 
comparison  of  either  materials  or  methods,  for  desirable,  even  satis- 
factory as  such  roads  may  be,  they,  like  all  other  roads,  require  also 
maintenance,  and  this  maintenance  means  expense  even  though  re- 
duced from  the  earlier  figures  for  such  work.  And  such  maintenance 
should  be,  with  bituminous  roads  as  well  as  with  any  others,  prompt, 
sufficient  and  efficient. 

MR.  PRATT:  Mr.  Chairman,  as  we  all  know,  the  work  of  this 
Association  and  the  progress  of  this  congress  will  be  made  known  to 
the  public  in  general,  not  by  the  speeches  made  here,  not  by  the  papers 
read,  but  through  resolutions  that  this  congress  adopts.  As  the  work 
of  the  committee  on  resolutions  is  going  to  be  very  hard  work,  and 
the  men  on  that  committee  will  have  to  give  up  their  whole  time,  and 
miss  a  great  many  of  these  sessions,  I  would  move  that  the  committee 
on  resolutions  be  completed  now  and  appointed  by  the  chair  so  that 
they  can  begin  their  work 

Seconded  and  adopted. 

CHAIRMAN  PARKER  :  I  will  announce  the  names  of  the  committee, 
which  is  the  result  not  of  my  wisdom  but  the  united  wisdom  of  a 
great  many  minds.  The  committee  is  as  follows:  consisting  of  four- 
teen names,  I  think.  Chairman,  T.  Coleman  du  Pont,  Delaware; 
Leonard  Tufts,  North  Carolina;  Jesse  Taylor,  Ohio;  W.  A.  McLean, 


BITUMINOUS  ROADS  57 

Toronto;  J.  A.  Stewart,  New  York;  W.  W.  Crosby,  Maryland;  W.  D. 
Sohier,  Massachusetts;  Mr.  T.  G.  Norris,  Arizona;  Mr.  R.  J.  Potts, 
Texas;  W.  J.  Roberts,  Washington;  P.  St.  J.  Wilson,  Virginia;  R.  A. 
Meeker,  New  Jersey;  Colonel  Sidney  Suggs,  Oklahoma;  Dr.  J.  H. 
Pratt,  North  Carolina;  A.  N.  Johnson,  Illinois. 

MR.  KENYON:  Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Convention, 
— I  am  not  expected  to  make  a  speech,  and  I  am  only  going  to  take  a 
very  few  minutes  now.  I  cannot  refrain  from  making  a  suggestion  in 
regard  to  bituminous  roads.  We  have  all  seen  so  many  excellent 
examples,  that  we  wonder  why  there  are  not  more  of  them;  and  then 
the  minute  we  come  to  make  a  particular  study  of  how  to  obtain  them, 
to  make  sure  that  we  will  get  good  ones,  we  find  all  sorts  of  difficulties 
confronting  us  at  every  turn.  We  look  into  the  surface  treatment, 
and  we  say, "  Oh,  my,  how  did  you  get  this  success?  "  The  same  is  true 
of  other  methods.  We  are  making  progress,  but  we  are  not  going  to 
make  a  great  deal  of  progress  until  we  are  able  to  standardize  in  some 
way  these  bituminous  materials.  It  seems  to  be  the  idea  of  almost 
everyone  that  the  chemist  is  the  one  to  make  this  solution.  I  do 
not  believe  that  we  are  going  to  have  much  success  as  long  as  we  follow 
that  idea.  You  remember  that  when  we  commenced  with  Portland 
cement,  they  said  it  was  a  chemical  problem  and  it  was  for  the  chemist 
to  solve,  and  we  made  very  little  progress  as  long  as  we  followed  the 
chemist;  finally  we  obtained  a  method  of  determining  the  physical 
qualities  of  the  cement  under  certain  conditions  of  temperature  and 
moisture;  and  by  always  mixing  it  the  same  way  we  found  that  it 
would  stand  300  or  400  pounds  pressure  per  square  inch,  if  not  more, 
by  the  test  of  the  crushing  strength  and  the  tensile  strength  was  also 
tested,  and  when  we  found  certain  standards  we  adopted  them,  and 
the  results  have  been  uniform  and  there  has  been  little  trouble  since. 
When  we  determine  that  as  to  bituminous  cement,  and  some  are 
working  along  that  line  now,  then  we  will  have  success  and  get  the 
similar  results  with  it  as  we  do  with  Portland  cement. 

One  suggestion  I  haven't  heard  anything  about,  in  any  of  the  papers, 
and  I  want  to  commend  it  to  the  road-builders  and  engineers,  is  in 
connection  with  the  penetration  method  of  making  bituminous  pitch 
roads.  I  was  going  with  Colonel  Brodie,  of  Liverpool,  England,  over 
some  bituminous  roads  he  had  constructed  by  the  penetration  method, 
and  he  made  this  variation  from  the  ordinary  method  of  handling  the 
materials.  He  heated,  of  course,  the  bituminous  material,  which  in 


58  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

that  case  was  pitch  or  refined  tar,  and  just  before  he  poured  it  in  the 
road  he  incorporated  in  it  about  50  per  cent  of  hot  fine  sand,  not  so 
much  that  it  did  not  pour,  and  the  man  who  attended  the  tank  kept 
stirring  it,  and  another  man  dipped  it  out  and  poured  it  on  the  road. 
You  could  see  the  sand  cling  to  the  rocks  on  which  it  was  poured,  and  it 
held  the  pitch  in  place.  It  is  known  that  in  all  bituminous  cements 
the  adhesion  to  other  surfaces  is  greater  than  the  cohesion  to  itself, 
consequently  he  got  in  that  mass  double  strength.  I  saw  some  pave- 
ments that  he  told  me  were  laid  eight  or  nine  years  before,  in  that  way, 
and  really  I  was  astonished  to  see  how  well  they  had  endured.  I 
haven't  seen  anyone  who  has  tried  that  plan  in  this  country.  I  suggest 
it  to  you.  It  looks  good  to  me.  The  results  that  I  saw  were  good, 
and  I  commend  them  to  the  consideration  of  those  who  study  the 
problem.  I  am  much  obliged  to  you  gentlemen  for  listening  to  me 
this  long. 

MR.  GULICK:  I  would  just  say  a  few  words.  Bituminous  roads 
are  all  right  for  cities,  but  not  for  the  country,  we  can't  afford  it.  Now 
what  are  we  going  to  do?  We  have  got  to  have  something  else,  we 
can't  afford  to  go  to  that  expense;  any  of  you  men  who  live  a  good 
ways  out  from  town  know  that. 

CHAIRMAN  PARKER  :  The  next  speaker  is  that  well-known  charac- 
ter, Mr.  Arthur  H.  Blanchard,  formerly  of  Rhode  Island,  and  now 
of  New  York.  There  is  probably  nobody  in  this  country  who  knows 
as  much  about  road  building  as  Professor  Blanchard,  and  he  is  going 
to  give  you  some  of  the  matters  relating  to  the  cost  and  maintenance 
of  roads. 

ROAD  COSTS  AND  MAINTENANCE 

ARTHUR  H.  BLANCHARD,  M.  AM.  Soc.  C.E. 
Professor  of  Highway  Engineering,  Columbia  University,  New  York 

The  propaganda  of  the  American  Association  for  Highway  Improve- 
ment contains  the  following  important  fundamental  principles: 

First :  "  The  elimination  of  politics  from  the  management  of  public 
roads. " 

Second :  'The  introduction  of  skilled  supervision  in  the  manage- 
ment of  public  roads." 

Third:    " Continuous  and  systematic  maintenance  of  all  roads." 


ROAD  COSTS  AND  MAINTENANCE  59 

Fourth:  "The  classification  of  all  roads  according  to  traffic 
requirements. " 

It  is  only  through  the  medium  of  the  recognition,  dissemination 
and  fulfillment  of  these  axiomatic  principles  that  the  important  prob- 
lem of  the  adoption  of  that  type  of  road  or  pavement  best  suited  to 
local  conditions  from  the  standpoints  of  economy  and  efficiency  can 
be  successfully  solved. 

The  determination  of  the  most  economical  and  efficacious  method 
of  construction  and  maintenance  to  be  employed  on  roads  of  various 
classes  constitutes  one  of  the  most  interesting  subjects  which  the 
highway  engineer  has  to  consider.  The  solution  of  the  problem 
depends  upon  many  variable  factors,  all  of  which  must  be  given  due 
consideration  and  the  proper  value  attached  to  each.  The  great 
variety  of  materials  and  methods  of  construction  and  maintenance 
used,  together  with  the  absence  of  such  essential  information  as 
traffic  censuses,  cost  data,  etc.,  makes  it  a  difficult  matter  sometimes 
to  reduce  all  of  the  different  types  of  roads  to  a  comparable  basis 
for  a  given  location.  It  is  only  within  the  past  few  years  that  any- 
thing has  been  done  relative  to  a  scientific  method  of  taking  traffic 
censuses  on  trunk  highways.  At  this  time,  however,  there  is  consider- 
able valuable  information  relative  to  the  construction  or  maintenance 
of  roads  to  meet  modern  traffic  conditions.  Another  source  of  con- 
fusion is  the  conflicting  reports  as  to  the  results  obtained  by  the  use  of 
a  certain  method  or  material.  In  many  localities  where  engineers 
have  adopted  some  one  general  method  for  construction  or  maintenance 
it  may  be  found  that  such  methods,  although  they  may  be  successful 
as  far  as  use  is  concerned,  are  not  the  most  economical  types  which  aro 
equally  efficacious.  The  cost  data  covering  construction  furnished 
by  many  highway  officials  unfortunately  is  so  brief  that  it  is  practically 
worthless.  Many  times  in  otherwise  elaborate  reports  a  total  cost 
per  mile  is  the  only  information  furnished  under  the  heading  cost 
data.  It  is  self-evident  that  in  order  that  cost  data  should  be  of 
value  to  the  public  and  the  engineering  profession  besides  a  complete 
description  of  construction,  characteristics  of  materials  employed  and 
local  conditions,  there  should  be  given  figures  relative  to  rates  of 
labor,  cost  of  equipment  and  detail  data  covering  construction. 

The  topic  "Road  Costs  and  Maintenance"  will  be  considered  from 
the  viewpoint  of  the  annual  cost  to  a  community  of  improved  high- 
ways of  various  types.  Annual  cost  is  a  combination  of  the  following 
variables:  Interest  on  the  initial  cost  of  the  road,  the  annual  main- 


60  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

tenance  charge,  and  an  annuity  which  will  in  n  years,  the  so-called  life 
of  the  road,  provide  a  fund  equal  to  the  cost  of  reconstruction.  In 
the  case  of  types  of  roads  permitting  partial  reconstruction  every 
m  years,  a  second  annuity  should  be  included.  As  an  illustration  of 
the  second  case  will  be  cited  the  practice  of  Parisian  engineers  in 
the  reconstruction  of  wood  block  pavements.  The  surface  of  this 
type  of  pavement  is  maintained  by  the  substitution  of  good  blocks 
in  such  places  as  depressions  have  been  formed  usually  attributable 
to  excessive  wear  of  blocks  of  poor  quality.  After  a  certain  pe- 
riod the  entire  wood  block  surface  is  taken  up,  the  blocks  planed  off 
and  relaid.  Again  in  the  cases  of  many  types  of  roads  having  as 
a  characteristic  a  broken  stone  surface  a  partial  reconstruction 
of  from  one  to  two  inches  hi  depth  is  required  every  few  years. 

The  other  factors  enumerated  under  annual  cost  need  no  explana- 
tion with  the  exception  of  maintenance  charge.  Unfortunately  hi 
maintenance  we  have  a  much  abused  word,  as  the  standard  upon 
which  the  definition  of  maintenance  rests  varies  widely  through-out 
this  country.  Hence  reports  relative  to  the  cost  of  this  item  as  a 
factor  of  annual  cost  are  of  little  value  except  in  those  cases  where 
it  is  known  what  the  highway  officials  mean  by  the  statement  that  a 
road  is  well  maintained.  The  ideal  maintenance,  which  should  be 
striven  for  in  every  case,  is  a  method  by  which  the  surface  of  the 
highway  is  kept  in  as  good  condition  as  when  accepted  on  the  com- 
pletion of  construction.  It  is  self-evident  that  it  is  only  possible  to  con- 
form to  this  ideal  by  the  adoption  of  the  principle  of  continuous 
maintenance.  It  is  certainly  deplorable  that  hi  the  case  of  some  of 
our  public  work  the  idea  of  maintenance  possessed  by  certain  lay 
boards  will  permit  the  surface  of  a  macadam  road  to  remain  covered 
with  loose  broken  stone  caused  by  disintegration  due  to  motor  car 
traffic  for  a  period  of  over  two  months.  This  practice  in  cases  where 
funds  are  available  for  the  improvement  of  the  conditions  noted  is 
obviously  absurd  to  designate  as  maintenance.  Rather  it  should 
be  characterized  as  criminal  negligence.  This  Association  has  an 
admirable  opportunity  to  emphasize  the  absurdity  of  the  popular 
idea  that  an  appropriation  for  the  construction  of  a  highway  will 
provide  a  surface  which,  once  constructed,  will  endure  until  eternity. 

Unfortunately,  first  cost  in  many  cases  is  the  only  element  which 
is  considered  in  the  selection  of  the  type  of  road  while  in  other  cases 
the  number  of  years  which  a  pavement  will  last  or  will  remain  dustless 
is  the  only  factor  given  due  weight.  The  interest  charge,  maintenance 


ROAD  COSTS  AND  MAINTENANCE  61 

required  and  the  annuity  item  seldom  receive  the  attention  deserved. 
Although  it  is  self-evident  that  the  problem  cannot  be  solved  exactly, 
nevertheless  it  is  practicable  to  analyze  the  problem  presented  in  a 
manner  that  will  give  as  satisfactory  results  as  are  characteristic 
of  the  results  obtained  in  many  engineering  problems  of  a  similar 
type  and  thus  approach  within  reasonable  limits  the  ideal  of  economy 
and  efficiency. 

An  ideal  road  or  pavement  should  be  durable,  noiseless,  sanitary, 
efficacious  for  road  users,  easily  cleaned  and  made  dustless,  provide 
good  foothold  for  horses  and  be  non-slippery  for  all  classes  of  vehicles 
under  varying  climatic  conditions,  yield  neither  dust  nor  mud,  have 
a  low  tractive  resistance,  low  annual  cost,  low  first  cost,  low  main- 
tenance charge,  and  an  esthetic  and  impervious  surface. 

It  should  not  be  considered,  therefore,  that  the  idea  of  annual  cost 
is  paramount  in  every  instance.  For  example  in  Monaco,  the  winter 
home  of  the  father  of  superficial  tarring,  Dr.  Guglielminetti,  ordinary 
macadam  made  absolutely  dustless  by  ideal  watering  has  been  adopted 
because  the  primary  prerequisite  in  that  case  was  of  an  esthetic  char- 
acter. In  this  instance  it  was  necessary  to  select  a  dustless  surface 
which  would  harmonize  with  the  tropical  gardens  and  yellow  lime- 
stone palatial  cafes,  hotels,  shops  and  villas  clustered  about  the  Casino 
of  Monte  Carlo.  Again,  although  the  annual  cost  is  greater,  many 
engineers  favor  the  use  of  a  bituminous  filler  for  brick  pavements 
rather  than  a  cement  grout  filler  because  the  pavement  constructed 
with  the  former  is  not  as  noisy  as  with  the  latter. 

As  illustrative  of  the  method  of  analysis  which  should  be  employed 
in  consideration  of  annual  cost,  a  few  examples  will  be  given  of  cases 
which  have  come  under  the  writer's  observation. 

The  first  illustration  cited  refers  to  a  road  built  of  water  bound 
macadam  located  in  an  isolated  and  exposed  district  subjected  to  a 
traffic  of  five  horse  drawn  vehicles  and  thirty  motor  cars  per  foot  of 
width  of  a  14  foot  roadway  during  the  period  from  8.00  a.  m.  to 
midnight  in  the  summer  season.  A  large  percentage  of  the  motor 
traffic  consisted  of  heavy  touring  cars,  limousines  and  landaulets 
traveling  at  speeds  between  40  and  55  miles  per  hour.  The  kind  of 
treatment  adopted  consisted  of  the  periodic  application  of  light  oil, 
which,  under  the  traffic  and  other  local  conditions,  was  efficacious  from 
the  standpoint  of  dustlessness  for  a  period  of  one  month.  The  annual 
cost  of  a  superficial  treatment  with  a  bituminous  material  will  be 
investigated  for  comparison.  The  interest  on  first  cost  and  the  annu- 


62  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

ity  will  be  considered  the  same  in  both  cases  although  it  is  self-evident 
that  the  bituminous  surface  road  will  have  a  much  longer  life.  The 
light  oil  was  used  during  the  maximum  period  for  this  locality,  that 
is  from  May  to  November,  inclusive.  The  cost  of  oiling,  being  1 
cent  per  square  yard  per  treatment,  was  7  cents  while  it  was  found 
that  the  cost  of  repairs  to  the  macadam  surface  was  3  cents.  It 
should  be  said  in  this  connection,  that,  although  the  surface  was  main- 
tained dustless  throughout  the  above  period,  disintegration  by  high 
speed  motor  car  traffic  took  place.  The  total  maintenance  charge 
was  10  cents  per  sq.  yd.  per  year.  On  the  other  hand  if  an  annual 
superficial  treatment  had  been  employed,  thus  providing  a  bituminous 
surface  which  would  have  been  efficacious  throughout  practically  the 
entire  year,  the  average  cost  of  the  superficial  treatment  would  have 
been  5  cents  per  square  yard  while  the  repair  item  would  not  have 
exceeded  0.5  cents,  thus  giving  a  total  maintenance  charge  of  5.5 
cents  as  compared  with  10  cents  with  the  light  oil. 

In  another  case  coming  under  the  writer's  observation,  it  was  decided 
to  first  construct  a  water  bound  macadam  and  afterwards  provide 
a  bituminous  surface  by  superficial  treatment.  The  annual  cost  of 
a  bituminous  concrete  pavement,  finished  with  a  flush  coat  which, 
under  the  traffic  to  which  this  road  was  subjected,  would  last  five 
years,  will  be  investigated  for  comparison.  Granted  that  it  will  be 
necessary  to  reconstruct  both  roads  by  replacing  the  wearing  surface 
of  2  inches  every  twenty  years,  the  annual  cost  may  be  compared  as 
follows:  For  the  annual  superficially  treated  road,  the  first  cost 
was  67  cents,  the  interest  charge  at  4  per  cent,  2.7  cents,  the  main- 
tenance charge  7  cents,  composed  of  a  5  cents  charge  for  annual  bitum- 
inous treatment  and  2  cents  for  repairs,  the  annuity,  0.9  cents,  based 
upon  the  cost  of  reconstruction.  Hence  the  annual  cost  will  be  10.6 
cents.  In  the  case  of  the  bituminous  pavement  the  first  cost  would, 
under  the  existing  local  conditions,  be  90  cents,  the  interest  charge  3.6 
cents,  the  maintenance  2.5  cents,  made  up  of  a  repair  charge  of  0.5 
cents  and  the  cost  of  the  flush  coat,  having  a  life  of  5  years  distributed 
throughout  this  period,  of  2  cents,  and  an  annuity  of  1.7  cents,  thus 
making  the  annual  cost  7.8  cents  as  compared  with  the  annual  cost 
of  the  superficial  treatment  of  10.6  cents  per  square  yard.  It  will  be 
noted  that  the  annuity  covering  total-reconstruction  is  not  consid- 
ered in  this  case.  In  the  opinion  of  the  writer  the  advantage  would 
be  with  the  bituminous  pavement. 

The  lack  of  appreciation  of  the  intimate  relationship   existing 


KOAD  COSTS  AND  MAINTENANCE  63 

between  road  costs  and  maintenance  is  attributable  to  many  causes 
among  which  may  be  noted  the  following: — 

First:  Political  interference  in  the  selection  of  the  men  placed  in 
control  of  highway  work,  and  with  the  work  of  design,  construction 
and  maintenance  of  roads  and  streets. 

Second:  The  interference  by  controlling  bodies  of  laymen  in  the 
legitimate  work  of  the  highway  engineer. 

Third:  Division  of  responsibility  in  the  supervision  of  highway 
work,  particularly  in  municipalities,  but  also  applicable  in  some 
States,  as  for  instance,  those  in  which  the  State  department  super- 
vises the  design  and  construction, while  the  responsibility  for  main- 
tenance is  placed  upon  the  county  or  town. 

Fourth :  The  comparatively  small  number  of  well-trained  highway 
engineers  who  have  devoted  the  requisite  time  and  energy  to  the  new 
problems  which  have  arisen  during  the  last  decade. 

Fifth:  The  comparatively  infinitesimal  amount  of  investigation 
which  has  been  considered  necessary  as  preliminary  to  the  design  of 
a  road  or  street  or  a  system  of  highways. 

Sixth:  The  general  meagreness  of  detail  knowledge  of  the  many 
different  materials  on  the  market  and  the  varied  methods  in  connec- 
tion with  which  they  may  be  used. 

Seventh :  A  confusion  of  ideas  on  the  part  of  many  as  to  the  rea- 
sons for  the  success  or  failure  of  various  methods  considered  both 
from  the  standpoint  of  road  preservation  and  dust  prevention. 

Eighth:  Nonobservance  of  the  relationship  between  the  adapt- 
ability of  various  methods  and  the  variability  in  the  cost  of  labor  and 
materials,  and  the  accessibility  of  new  bituminous  materials  and 
machines. 

Ninth:  The  search  by  many  officials  for  a  panacea  for  the  treat- 
ment of  all  classes  of  roads  and  streets. 

By  an  analysis  of  this  brief  outline  of  the  relationship  existing 
between  road  costs  and  maintenance  it  is  apparent  that  the  principles 
enunciated  heretofore  must  have  the  enthusiastic  support  of  all 
interested  in  highway  improvement  if  economical  highway  construc- 
tion and  maintenance  is  to  be  characteristic  of  the  future  development 
of  American  highways. 

MR.  Cox:  I  come  from  Prince  George  County,  in  Virginia,  in 
which  we  have  no  material  for  the  building  of  what  would  be  con- 
sidered permanent  roads  as  outlined  in  the  papers  and  addresses 


64  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

delivered  here,  such  as  rock  or  stone.  We  have  very  little  gravel, 
but  lots  of  sand  and  clay.  I  am  more  interested  hi  the  sand-clay 
road  improvement  than  in  the  so-called  permanent  road.  In  Mr. 
Wilson's  paper  I  noticed  that  he  discussed  the  use  of  the  split-log 
drag  for  use  on  the  sand-clay  road;  whether  hi  his  paper  he  suggested 
the  cleaning  out  of  drains  or  ditches  along  the  roadside  and  the  turning 
of  that  material  which  has  been  deposited  hi  the  ditch  entirely  out 
of  the  road,  I  do  not  know.  I  would  like  to  ask  Mr.  Wilson,  if  he 
would  suggest  the  throwing  of  that  material  out  of  the  ditches  ahead 
of  the  split-drag,  or  would  he  let  the  drag  do  the  work?  If  he  does 
not  throw  it  out  ahead  of  the  drag,  the  drag  would  necessarily  draw 
it  to  the  center  of  the  road,  which  he  says  is  objectionable. 

CHAIRMAN  PARKER:  Can  you  not  reverse  the  drag  so  as  to  throw 
it  outside? 

MR.  Cox:  Then  you  would  have  to  use  something  besides  the 
split-log  drag  to  get  it  out  of  the  dram.  I  just  want  to  know  whether 
he  would  recommend  throwing  out  by  shovel  or  other  means,  the 
entire  deposit  that  had  been  made  hi  the  ditch  ahead  of  the  split-log 
drag. 

CHAIRMAN  PARKER:  You  will  have  an  opportunity  of  conferring 
with  Captain  Wilson  on  that  any  time  you  like.  We  have  about  half 
an  hour  more,  and  there  is  the  subject  of  brick  and  other  road  materials 
to  be  considered.  Prof.  Edward  Orton  has  telegraphed  that  he  cannot 
be  here,  so  you  will  miss  the  paper  which  he  has  written:  but  I  am  going 
to  make  bold  to  call  Mr.  Blair,  of  Cleveland,  to  say  a  word,  he  is  an 
expert  on  brick  roads,  and  a  very  ready  and  continuous  talker,  and 
I  have  no  doubt  that  if  he  were  allowed  to  proceed  he  would  entertain 
you  the  rest  of  the  day,  but  I  am  going  to  ask  Mr.  Blair  if  he  will  talk 
about  twenty  minutes. 

MR.  BLAIR:  Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen — I  very  much 
regret  the  absence  of  Professor  Orton  who  would  doubtless  give  to 
you  more  readily  the  information  this  audience  would  like  to  hear, 
regarding  brick  roads,  than  I.  But  I  learn  that  family  affliction  kept 
kept  him  away  from  this  convention.  We  have  heard,  I  believe, 
every  kind,  manner  and  method  of  building  every  road,  and  the  main- 
tenance of  roads,  from  the  platform,  with  the  exception  of  brick; 


KOAD  COSTS  AND  MAINTENANCE  65 

and  as  my  time  is  so  limited  I  believe  that  it  can  be  more  profitably 
employed  if  I  would  simply  relate  to  you  the  chief  ideals  of  construc- 
tion of  a  brick  road,  and  I  will  rapidly  pass  over  the  items  and  details 
concerning  the  necessary  construction  of  a  brick  road,  so  as  to  make 
it  render  the  best  service,  because  I  believe  if  there  is  any  road  on 
earth  that  eliminates  the  maintenance  charges,  it  is  a  properly  con- 
structed brick  highway. 

The  proper  dimensions  of  a  brick  highway,  where  they  have  been 
in  use  for  a  number  of  years,  is  14  feet  in  width  with  a  7-foot  clay 
track  on  the  side.  Many  of  them  are  built  about  9  feet  in  width  with 
a  7-foot  clay  road  on  the  side;  such  roads  measure  a  yard  for  every 
lineal  foot.  Such  roads  are  built  in  many  parts  of  this  country  at  a 
cost  of  $80000  to  $10,000  a  mile.  They  have  underneath  that  a  4- 
inch  concrete  base;  that  4-inch  concrete  base  is  advisedly  made 
smooth.  Upon  it  is  placed,  a  2-inch  sand  cushion  that  is  uniformly 
compressed  by  using  a  hand  roller  weighing  about  350  pounds.  Two 
things  are  accomplished  by  that  method  You  have  a  uniform  wearing 
plate,  you  have  a  support  of  the  wearing  surface  that  is  uniform,  and 
yet  it  has  resiliency,  so  that  neither  the  brick  nor  the  cement  that  is 
placed  between  the  brick  is  at  all  injured  in  use,  and  will  last 
indefinitely.  After  this  foundation  is  thus  prepared,  the  bricks  are 
placed  upon  it  with  the  best  edge  up,  and  after  that  the  pavement  is 
smoothed,  and  then  it  is  ready  to  receive  the  application  of  the  cement 
filler.  And  just  one  word  before  I  describe  how  the  cement  filler 
should  be  applied  to  the  joints  of  the  brick.  I  want  to  say  that  any 
other  kind  of  filler  in  brick  streets  is  not  advisable  at  all,  that  it  is 
an  error  to  suppose  that  the  use  of  the  soft  filler  does  away  with  the 
noise;  rather  the  cement  filler  tends  to  lessen  the  noise  during  a  period 
in  the  use  of  a  brick  street  covering  its  life,  because  the  soft  filler 
will  gradually  pick  out,  the  brick  will  chip,  and  it  grows  more  noisy, 
as  it  grows  older;  while  with  the  use  of  the  cement  filler,  such  as 
described  to  you,  the  brick  street  becomes  smoother  and  less  noisy  as 
it  grows  older,  because  it  is  in  better  condition  from  year  to  year,  we 
don't  know  for  how  many  years. 

Now  in  the  application  of  the  cement  filler,  the  secret  of  obtaining 
the  quality  is  that  the  cement  filler  shall  be  made  in  the  proper  pro- 
portion and  that  proportion  is  one  to  one  of  cement  and  sand.  The 
only  way  to  keep  it  in  that  proportion  is  to  keep  it  in  perfect  agitation 
until  it  lands  in  its  place,  and  then  after  it  becomes  hardened,  it  is 
uniform  in  character  throughout  and  any  expansion  and  contraction 


66  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

which  we  are  often  called  upon  to  explain  is  almost  eliminated,  be- 
cause that  is  taken  up  in  compression.  But  whatever  remains  may 
be  taken  care  of  simply  by  means  of  an  expansion  cushion  alongside 
the  curb. 

Now,  as  to  the  curb,  for  a  country  highway,  it  is  advisable,  simply 
to  build  it  flush  with  the  pavement,  so  the  teams  can  pass  on  or  off 
that  pavement  without  let  or  hindrance. 

Now,  as  to  its  quality,  after  a  pavement  is  thus  constructed  it  is 
almost  impossible  for  it  to  get  out  of  order,  and  I  am  almost  inclined 
to  refrain  from  speaking  the  facts  with  reference  to  the  durability 
of  brick  pavements  thus  constructed.  We  never  have  had  a  brick 
pavement  in  this  country  to  call  for  repairs  in  twenty  yearn,  and  that 
is  something  worth  while  that  the  American  people  ough^  to  know. 
I  am  not  an  advocate  of  the  use  of  brick  generally  and  indiscriminately; 
you  must  have  the  sand-clay  roads,  you  must  have  the  water-bound 
macadam,  you  must  ha^  e  the  water-treated  roads  we  have  heard  so 
much  about.  But  upon  excessively  used  roads  like  the  great  through- 
fare  from  the  city  of  Washington  to  the  city  of  Richmond,  over  which 
would  come  continuously  in  almost  unlimited  numbers  automobiles, 
trucks,  farm  wagons  and  traffic  of  all  kinds,  there  is  but  the  one  pave- 
ment on  this  earth  that  is  economical  to  construct  upon  such  a  high- 
way, and  that  is  either  granite  or  brick.  Of  course  a  granite  pave- 
ment would  be  out  of  the  question,  but  brick  is  not  prohibitive  in  cost 
for  excessively  used  roads,  and  it  is  the  solution  of  the  problem  as 
to  the  material  for  excessively  used  highways  that  the  American  people 
demand.  Why,  it  would  be  utter  folly  to  use  any  other  material  to 
construct  a  road  in  the  State  of  Illinois,  that  is  expected  to  bear 
14,000  bushels  of  grain  to  market  from  every  quarter  section  of  land, 
as  is  the  case  in  many  sections  of  that  State.  I  had  a  photograph 
taken  a  little  while  ago  where  such  a  farmer,  at  a  distance  of  2\  miles 
from  market,  with  teams  of  two  horses  and  five  wagons,  averaged  319 
bushels  per  load,  at  a  cost  of  less  than  1  cent  per  ton  per  mile  for 
such  work.  That  is  an  extreme  example,  but  it  affords  an  opportunity 
for  study  and  consideration  as  to  the  possibilities  of  brick  paved 
roads  in  this  country. 

I  just  want  to  recite  for  a  moment  some  of  the  history  in  places 
where  these  roads  are  the  most  popular  in  the  country,  and  that  is 
in  the  vicinity  of  Cleveland,  Ohio.  In  the  county  outside  of  the 
limits  of  Cleveland,  we  have  about  400  miles  of  brick  paved  country 
highway.  If  you  will  get  into  the  commissioner's  office  of  that  county, 


ROAD  COSTS  AND  MAINTENANCE  67 

you  will  find  at  this  minute  twenty-two  farmers  petitions  for  that 
many  additional  roads  awaiting  the  action  of  the  county  commissioners 
and  the  money  with  which  to  construct  them,  so  popular  are  they. 
Something  like  five  years  ago  a  realization  came  to  the  people  as  to 
the  possibilities  of  these  roads  in  that  county  to  such  an  extent  that 
the  farmers  along  at  least  two  roads  within  the  county  petitioned 
for  brick  roads,  though  they  had  yet  five  years  to  pay  out  on  their 
water-bound  macadam.  What  is  the  result  in  that  county?  Farm 
values  have  been  doubled  in  a  large  part  of  that  county,  and  a  farmer 
is  within  just  as  easy  touch  of  the  city  of  Cleveland,  20  miles  out  on 
that  road,  as  he  is  within  a  mile  and  half. 

Now  I  do  not  know  that  I  can  say  anything  further  in  the  few  min- 
utes allotted  me,  but  I  feel  that  I  have  said  enough.  Although  I 
cannot  go  into  details  and  recite  to  you  all  the  evidences  of  the  eco- 
nomic value  of  brick  roads  on  the  excessively  used  highways  of  this 
country.  I  will  state  two  or  three  of  the  advantages;  the  traction 
resistance  is  less  than  that  of  any  road;  it  does  not  originate  dust, 
and  a  farmer  with  the  utmost  comfort  can  have  his  house  by  the  side 
of  the  highway  without  the  dust  flying  in  his  window  and  in  his  yard; 
you  can  get  about  any  time  of  the  year.  But  the  chief  virtue  of  that 
road  is  that  it  is  never  out  of  repair,  and  it  is  good  for  use  night  or 
day,  winter  or  summer,  wet  or  dry. 

CHAIRMAN  PARKER:  We  are  a  little  ahead  of  our  program  and 
time,  and  there  have  been  several  of  you  who  seemed  to  want  to  ask 
questions.  Any  of  you  who  would  like  to  ask  questions  I  will  be  very 
glad  to  entertain  them;  and  if  I  cannot  answer  them,  I  will  refer  them 
to  Mr.  Page,  who  can  answer  any  known  question;  so  I  hope  that  any 
one  of  you  who  wants  information  will  ask  questions. 

MR.  GILBERT:  I  had  occasion  two  or  three  weeks  ago  to  fill  a 
place  in  a  road,  and  I  looked  at  the  act  of  1904,  which  gave  the  super- 
intendent of  the  roads  the  right  to  use  dirt  on  the  roads  from  the 
nearest  and  most  convenient  land,  to  save  hauling,  and  I  did  so,  and 
I  was  restrained  by  the  circuit  court  from  taking  such  dirt.  It  came 
up  before  the  judge,  and  the  judge  sustained  me  in  that  very  point, 
that  I  had  the  right  to  take  dirt  and  use  it  from  the  nearest  and  most 
convenient  land  to  save  hauling.  This  place  was  opposite  a  man's 
farm,  and  he  was  gettin  more  benefit  than  anybody  else,  and  he 
stopped  me  from  getting  the  dirt,  but  I  got  it. 


68  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

CHAIRMAN  PARKER:  You  are  a  good  citizen  of  Missouri,  and  I 
will  say  to  you  that  you  would  also  have  been  upheld  in  Massachu- 
setts. 

MR.  PAGE  :  Tomorrow  will  be  the  first  anniversary  of  the  American 
Association  for  Highway  Improvement.  We  have  accomplished  a 
certain  amount  of  work  this  year,  but  I  do  not  think  our  work  will 
be  well  done  until  we  have  affiliated  with  us  the  American  Road 
Builders'  Association.  I  have  the  honor  to  be  a  di)  ector  in  that 
organization,  and  we  have  with  us  here  the  complete  executive 
committee  and  the  President  of  the  Association.  I  most  earnestly 
hope,  and  I  speak  on  the  part  of  the  directors  of  the  American  Asso- 
ciation for  Highway  Improvement,  that  they  will  be  able  to  affiliate 
with  us,  and  I  want  to  invite  all  the  directors  of  the  American  Road 
Builders'  Association  to  be  present  at  the  directors  meeting  of  the 
American  Association  for  Highway  Improvement,  tomorrow  after- 
noon at  three  o'clock. 

There  is  one  other  thing  I  should  like  to  say,  and  that  is  that  we 
want  the  automobilists  to  be  affiliated  with  us  and  I  wish  to  extend 
a  similar  invitation  to  any  of  the  directors  of  the  American  Automo- 
bile Association  to  meet  with  us  and  bring  about  an  affiliation.  I 
had  the  pleasure  this  morning  of  meeting  Mr.  Batchelder,  chairman  of 
their  executive  committee,  and  I  hope  he  will  attend,  and  any  of  the 
other  directors  who  may  be  present. 

MR.  SMITH  (of  New  Jersey) :  I  am  president  of  the  Automobile 
clubs;  I  am  doing  some  work  in  Florida  under  the  Good  Roads  Asso- 
ciation, and  also  under  Mr.  Bates.  I  mention  this  to  show  that  I 
speak  from  all  sides.  I  would  like  to  see  every  association  in  the 
United  States  that  has  at  heart  good  roads,  affiliated  with  each  other. 
I  love  good  roads  and  I  hate  bad  roads,  and  I  wish  everybody  would 
adopt  that  motto,  and  that  every  association  which  is  interested  in 
good  roads  will  get  together  tomorrow  and  make  this  general  affilia- 
tion. Let  this  be  a  love  feast.  I  have  talked  with  people  all  through 
the  halls  and  vestibules  and  the  lobby,  "Where  do  you  come  from?" 
"North  Carolina,  we  are  doing  so  and  so;"  "Florida,  we  are  doing 
so  and  so;"  "Illinois,  we  are  doing  so  and  so. "  We  might  hold  one 
of  the  quilting  parties  they  used  to  have  when  I  was  a  boy;  the  old 
women  from  all  around  would  come  and  bring  pieces  of  cloth  and 
sew  and  talk  and  gossip,  and  by  the  time  they  were  done  in  the  after- 


ROAD  COSTS  AND  MAINTENANCE  69 

noon,  they  would  have  a  whole  quilt.  We  are  making  a  quilt,  every 
city  is  a  small  square  and  every  State  is  a  large  square,  and  we  are 
making  a  great  highway.  I  hope  tomorrow,  that  the  A.  A.  A.,  the 
A.  A.  H.  I.,  and  the  X.  Y.  Z.,  will  all  come  together,  and  that  every- 
body that  loves  good  roads  will  come  tomorrow  and  affiliate  with 
this  Association. 
The  Association  than  took  a  recess  until  2.30  o'clock,  p.  m. 


AFTERNOON  SESSION 

Tuesday,  November  21,  1911,  2.30  O'clock,  p.m. 

HON.  HAROLD  PARKER,  Chairmen,  presiding 

CHAIRMAN  PARKER:  The  first  address  of  the  afternoon  will  be  by 
Mr.  Onward  Bates,  who  has  been  President  of  the  American  Society 
of  Civil  Engineers  and  is  an  authority  whom  everybody  will  recognize. 

THE   RELATION   BETWEEN   ENGINEERS   AND 
CONTRACTORS  ON  HIGHWAY  WORK 

ONWARD  BATES 
Past  President,  American  Society  of  Civil  Engineers 

It  goes  without  saying  that  we  recognize  the  importance  of  this 
meeting.  Other  speakers  emphasize  this  feature  and  show  how  much 
good  may  result  to  our  whole  nation  from  the  earnestness  of  our  pur- 
pose and  our  willingness  to  work  for  the  cause  of  good  roads.  No 
introduction  is  therefore  necessary,  and  in  the  brief  space  of  time  which 
I  may  occupy,  I  will  try  to  confine  my  remarks  to  the  subject  that  has 
been  suggested  to  me:  "The  Relation  Between  Engineers  and  Con- 
tractors on  Highway  Work." 

I  take  it  for  granted  that  past  and  present  methods  of  building  and 
caring  for  our  roads  are  acknowledged  to  be  unsatisfactory,  and  that 
the  object  of  the  Association  for  Highway  Improvement  is  to  alter 
or  to  abolish  these  methods,  and  to  replace  them  with  better  ones. 
In  other  words,  we  must  substitute  efficiency  and  economy  for  failure 
and  waste.  We  have,  as  the  result  of  experience  in  other  classes  of 
public  work,  demonstrated  the  success  of  contract  work  under  the 
direction  of  engineers.  This  method  of  contract  work,  supervised 
by  engineers,  is  as  applicable  to  road  construction  and  maintenance 
as  it  is  to  other  works,  and  it  has  some  special  advantages  which  will 
be  explained  later. 

In  the  first  place,  road  work  should  be  under  the  dirction  of  an 
engineer;  because  the  kind  of  work  to  be  done,  the  quality  of  the  work, 

70 


ENGINEERS  AND  CONTRACTORS  71 

the  amount  of  it,  and  the  method  of  doing  it,  it  should  be  determined 
by  an  expert.  But,  suppose  the  engineer  is  not  an  expert,  what  then? 
Do  not  be  influenced  by  any  such  supposition.  Work  from  knowledge 
and  employ  an  engineeer  who  is  a  road  expert.  There  are  engineers 
who  are  road  experts,  and  there  will  be  many  such  engineers  developed 
as  correct  methods  are  adopted  for  road  work.  As  the  demand  arises, 
the  supply  will  arise  to  meet  it.  In  any  case,  whether  the  work  is 
performed  under  contract,  or  otherwise,  the  road  engineer  is  necessary. 

The  road  engineer  should  know  just  what  is  needed.  He  should  be 
able  to  plan  and  describe  these  needs  so  that  they  are  clearly  inter- 
preted to  those  who  do  the  work.  He  must  make  his  plans  to  con- 
form to  the  funds  provided  to  pay  for  the  work.  He  should  possess 
exceptional  executive  ability,  for  in  his  occupation  there  is  an  unusual 
spread  of  responsibility  for  the  work  itself,  and  for  the  number  of 
interests  which  must  be  considered.  Technical  knowledge,  good 
judgment,  and  tactfulness,  are  all  essential  qualities  which  he  is 
expected  to  possess.  His  field  of  action  is  most  attractive,  for  the 
reason  that  half  of  his  problems  are  already  solved.  Experience  is 
principally  gained  by  the  study  of  failures,  and  a  knowledge  of  what 
has  been  so  poorly  done  in  the  past  will  teach  him  what  must  be  avoided 
in  the  future. 

To  improve  the  roads  in  any  specified  locality  requires  first  of  all 
a  head  to  plan  and  to  supervise  the  work  to  be  done.  This  head, 
whom  I  designate  as  the  road  engineer,  must  be  responsible  for  all 
the  work  in  his  district,  and  since  responsibility  cannot  be  disasso- 
ciated from  authority,  he  should  have  full  authority  over  the  conduct 
of  all  the  work  for  which  he  is  responsible  to  the  power  that  appoints 
him.  The  engineer  must  not  be  hampered  in  his  work  by  any  other 
consideration  than  the  performance  of  his  duty  as  engineer.  He 
should  have  no  affiliations,  and  should  eschew  politics,  knowing  all 
men  only  as  citizens  with  a  common  interest  to  be  served  by  him. 
A  wo'rd  of  warning  here  for  those  who  have  the  power  of  appointing 
the  engineer — scarcely  anything  can  be  more  subversive  to  the  public 
good  than  to  make  a  political  appointment  of  such  an  office.  The 
engineer  should  be  chosen  as  an  expert  in  his  line  of  work,  which  leads 
to  the  conclusion  that  his  office  should  be  an  appointive,  rather  than 
an  elective,  one.  His  appointment  should  be  after  careful  examina- 
tion of  his  qualifications  for  the  office,  and  this  can  only  be  made  by 
an  appointing  power,  which  is  capable  of  determining  his  fitness,  and 
which  is  responsible  for  the  performance  of  his  duties. 


AFTERNOON  SESSION 

Tuesday,  November  21,  1911,  2.30  O'clock,  p.m. 
HON.  HAROLD  PARKER,  Chairrm.  n,  presiding 

CHAIRMAN  PARKER:  The  first  address  of  the  afternoon  will  be  by 
Mr.  Onward  Bates,  who  has  been  President  of  the  American  Society 
of  Civil  Engineers  and  is  an  authority  whom  everybody  will  recognize. 

THE   RELATION   BETWEEN   ENGINEERS   AND 
CONTRACTORS  ON  HIGHWAY  WORK 

ONWARD  BATES 
Past  President,  American  Society  of  Civil  Engineers 

It  goes  without  saying  that  we  recognize  the  importance  of  this 
meeting.  Other  speakers  emphasize  this  feature  and  show  how  much 
good  may  result  to  our  whole  nation  from  the  earnestness  of  our  pur- 
pose and  our  willingness  to  work  for  the  cause  of  good  roads.  No 
introduction  is  therefore  necessary,  and  in  the  brief  space  of  time  which 
I  may  occupy,  I  will  try  to  confine  my  remarks  to  the  subject  that  has 
been  suggested  to  me:  "The  Relation  Between  Engineers  and  Con- 
tractors on  Highway  Work. " 

I  take  it  for  granted  that  past  and  present  methods  of  building  and 
caring  for  our  roads  are  acknowledged  to  be  unsatisfactory,  and  that 
the  object  of  the  Association  for  Highway  Improvement  is  to  alter 
or  to  abolish  these  methods,  and  to  replace  them  with  better  ones. 
In  other  words,  we  must  substitute  efficiency  and  economy  for  failure 
and  waste.  We  have,  as  the  result  of  experience  in  other  classes  of 
public  work,  demonstrated  the  success  of  contract  work  under  the 
direction  of  engineers.  This  method  of  contract  work,  supervised 
by  engineers,  is  as  applicable  to  road  construction  and  maintenance 
as  it  is  to  other  works,  and  it  has  some  special  advantages  which  will 
be  explained  later. 

In  the  first  place,  road  work  should  be  under  the  dirction  of  an 
engineer;  because  the  kind  of  work  to  be  done,  the  quality  of  the  work, 

70 


ENGINEERS  AND  CONTRACTORS  71 

the  amount  of  it,  and  the  method  of  doing  it,  it  should  be  determined 
by  an  expert.  But,  suppose  the  engineer  is  not  an  expert,  what  then? 
Do  not  be  influenced  by  any  such  supposition.  Work  from  knowledge 
and  employ  an  engineeer  who  is  a  road  expert.  There  are  engineers 
who  are  road  experts,  and  there  will  be  many  such  engineers  developed 
as  correct  methods  are  adopted  for  road  work.  As  the  demand  arises, 
the  supply  will  arise  to  meet  it.  In  any  case,  whether  the  work  is 
performed  under  contract,  or  otherwise,  the  road  engineer  is  necessary. 

The  road  engineer  should  know  just  what  is  needed.  He  should  be 
able  to  plan  and  describe  these  needs  so  that  they  are  clearly  inter- 
preted to  those  who  do  the  work.  He  must  make  his  plans  to  con- 
form to  the  funds  provided  to  pay  for  the  work.  He  should  possess 
exceptional  executive  ability,  for  in  his  occupation  there  is  an  unusual 
spread  of  responsibility  for  the  work  itself,  and  for  the  number  of 
interests  which  must  be  considered.  Technical  knowledge,  good 
judgment,  and  tactfulness,  are  all  essential  qualities  which  he  is 
expected  to  possess.  His  field  of  action  is  most  attractive,  for  the 
reason  that  half  of  his  problems  are  already  solved.  Experience  is 
principally  gained  by  the  study  of  failures,  and  a  knowledge  of  what 
has  been  so  poorly  done  in  the  past  will  teach  him  what  must  be  avoided 
in  the  future. 

To  improve  the  roads  in  any  specified  locality  requires  first  of  all 
a  head  to  plan  and  to  supervise  the  work  to  be  done.  This  head, 
whom  I  designate  as  the  road  engineer,  must  be  responsible  for  all 
the  work  in  his  district,  and  since  responsibility  cannot  be  disasso- 
ciated from  authority,  he  should  have  full  authority  over  the  conduct 
of  all  the  work  for  which  he  is  responsible  to  the  power  that  appoints 
him.  The  engineer  must  not  be  hampered  in  his  work  by  any  other 
consideration  than  the  performance  of  his  duty  as  engineer.  He 
should  have  no  affiliations,  and  should  eschew  politics,  knowing  all 
men  only  as  citizens  with  a  common  interest  to  be  served  by  him. 
A  word  of  warning  here  for  those  who  have  the  power  of  appointing 
the  engineer — scarcely  anything  can  be  more  subversive  to  the  public 
good  than  to  make  a  political  appointment  of  such  an  office.  The 
engineer  should  be  chosen  as  an  expert  in  his  line  of  work,  which  leads 
to  the  conclusion  that  his  office  should  be  an  appointive,  rather  than 
an  elective,  one.  His  appointment  should  be  after  careful  examina- 
tion of  his  qualifications  for  the  office,  and  this  can  only  be  made  by 
an  appointing  power,  which  is  capable  of  determining  his  fitness,  and 
which  is  responsible  for  the  performance  of  his  duties. 


72  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

In  the  second  place,  road  work  should  be  done  by  contract,  because 
if  we  are  expected  to  improve  our  roads,  we  must  make  a  business 
of  road  work,  and  since  the  contractor  is  in  that  business,  we  need  to 
engage  his  services.  No  better  argument  can  be  made  in  support  of 
this  statement  than  to  call  attention  to  road  work  which  was  not  con- 
ducted as  a  business,  and  which  was  performed  by  men  whose  busi- 
ness was  not  that  of  road  making.  >  road  contractor  should  know 
his  business.  He  should  know  what  constitutes  a  good  road,  and  how 
to  build  it .  He  should  be  provided  with  tools  and  implements  required 
for  road  construction  and  maintenance.  If  the  road  contractor  follows 
road  building  as  an  occupation,  it  is  expected  that  he  will  have  such 
plant  as  will  enable  him  to  execute  work  of  the  best  character,  with 
economy  of  cost,  in  money  and  time,  and  that  he  will  have  a  following 
of  workmen  familiar  with  road  making.  We  may  reasonably  expect 
that  road  work  will  be  done  by  a  competent  road  contractor  with 
greater  economy  and  despatch  than  can  be  attained  under  a  system 
where  a  local  government  undertakes  to  buy  plant  and  employ  men 
with  which  to  do  its  own  road  work. 

The  engineer  plans  and  supervises  the  work,  gives  instructions  to 
the  contractor,  inspects  material  and  workmanship,  and  makes  the 
contractor's  estimates  for  payment.  Contracts  should  be  awarded 
by  the  engineer,  or  upon  his  recommendation.  In  general,  the  engi- 
neer directs  the  work  and  is  responsible  to  the  power  which  appointed 
him,  for  the  performance  of  all  contractor's  obligations. 

The  contractor,  on  his  part,  must  comply  with  all  the  requirements 
of  the  contract,  and  to  this  end  is  directly  responsible  to  the  engineer. 

Thus  it  rests  with  the  engineer  and  contractor  to  get  the  best  roads 
possible  with  the  expenditure  of  the  people's  money.  It  is  obvious 
that  they  must  pull  together  or  the  people  will  be  losers.  Their 
relations  are  defined  in  the  contract  for  the  work.  In  the  ordinary 
forms  of  contract  for  work  to  be  performed,  the  engineer  is  vested  with 
full  power  of  directing  the  operations  of  the  contractor.  The  engineer 
makes  the  estimates  of  quantities  and  of  values,  upon  which  the  con- 
tractor receives  payment.  It  is  his  duty  to  fix  the  standards  for  mate- 
rial and  workmanship,  to  inspect  the  quality  of  materials  and  of  work, 
to  accept  such  as  conforms  to  the  contract  and  to  reject  such  as  does 
not  meet  the  contract  requirements.  Nearly  all  contracts  give  the 
engineer  arbitrary  power  to  decide  all  questions  arising  in  the  per- 
formance of  the  contractor's  obligations,  and  most  contracts  state 
that  the  decision  of  the  engineer  shall  be  final  and  binding  on  the 


ENGINEERS  AND  CONTRACTORS  73 

contractor.  These  powers  conferred  on  the  engineer  appear  to  be 
the  outgrowth  of  experience  and  are  perhaps  warranted  by  expediency. 
For  so  long  as  the  engineer  is  competent  and  fair,  the  system  works 
very  well,  but  engineers  have  the  qualities  common  to  humanity  and 
it  would  be  fairer  to  them  if  the  provisions  of  a  contract  confined  their 
decisions  within  the  limits  of  justice.  Experienced  contractors  some- 
times find  that  contracts  which  they  must  accept — or  go  without  the 
work — give  the  engineer  such  an  advantage  over  them,  that  they  attach 
more  importance  to  the  personality  of  the  engineer  than  to  the  terms 
of  the  contract.  Speaking  from  experience,  both  as  an  engineer  and 
as  a  contractor,  I  do  not  favor  vesting  the  engineer  with  arbitrary 
power  over  the  contractor's  interests.  We  live  under  a  constitutional 
government,  and  contracts  between  its  citizens  should  preserve  the 
constitutional  rights  of  both  parties.  A  contract  which  enables  one 
party  to  work  an  unjustice  upon  the  other,  is  contrary  to  public 
policy,  and  whether  it  be  legal  or  not,  it  conflicts  with  the  principles 
which  all  of  us  claim  as  citizens.  I  believe  it  is  possible  to  draw 
contracts  which  will  secure  the  faithful  performance  of  the  obliga- 
tions of  both  parties,  and  will,  at  the  same  time,  protect  the  interest 
of  the  party  at  whose  expense  the  work  is  carried  on.  Under  a  general 
system  of  road  improvement  throughout  the  country,  equitable  forms 
of  contract  will  be  developed  which  will  supersede  forms  that  are  found 
in  practice  to  be  objectionable.  Bring  together  the  expert  engineer 
and  the  competent  contractor,  and  it  will  be  found  they  can  work  to- 
gether in  harmony  and  obtain  the  best  results  for  the  community  which 
employs  them.  In  most  cases  of  trouble  between  the  engineer  and 
the  contractor  the  fault  lies  with  one  or  the  other,  or  with  both  of 
them.  It  would  seem  almost  superfluous  to  make  the  statement  that 
the  best  form  of  contract  is*  that  which  covers  the  obligations  of  both 
parties  in  the  simplest  and  plainest  terms,  leaving  out  all  unnecessary 
language.  And  yet  it  is  well  to  be  reminded  of  this,  for  many  con- 
tracts for  performance  of  work  are  so  unintelligible  that  both  engineer 
and  contractor  find  it  difficult  to  decide  what  are  their  respective 
obligations. 

Specifications  for  material  and  workmanship  are  usually  attached 
to,  and  form  a  part  of,  the  contract.  The  preceding  remarks  favoring 
brevity  and  simplicity  in  the  wording  of  contracts  apply  with  equal 
force  to  the  specifications.  Instead  of  trying  to  include  in  the  speci- 
fications everything  under  the  sun,  it  will  be  better  to  omit  from  the 
contract  all  items  of  uncertain  and  indeterminate  character,  and  this 


74  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

will  avoid  the  necessity  of  describing  and  specifying  their  value  and 
extent. 

In  the  interest  of  economy  and  efficiency,  the  work  should  be  classi- 
fied and  grouped  in  the  most  convenient  manner  for  letting  it  by  con- 
tract. The  work  should  be  of  such  character  and  volume  as  will 
enable  the  contractor  to  make  favorable /prices.  The  engineer  should 
also  try  to  arrange  the  work  so  that  a  contractor  may  work  continu- 
ously through  the  working  season.  The  expenses  of  organizing  and 
starting  work  are  understood,  and  should  not  be  repeated  any  oftener 
than  is  necessary.  Changing  contractors  or  employing  them  at 
intervals  of  time,  involves  what  may  be  called  '  'contractor's  terminal 
expenses,"  and  if  these  can  be  avoided  there  will  be  a  considerable 
saving  in  cost,  which  should  be  recognized  in  the  contract  prices  and 
the  saving  divided  between  the  parties.  Better  prices  for  work,  and 
better  service  will  be  obtained  from  an  established  local  contractor, 
who,  in  looking  to  the  work  as  a  means  of  livelihood,  desires  to  retain 
in  his  service  experienced  workmen  and  to  keep  his  plant  employed, 
both  of  which  are  necessary  for  economical  operations,  and  he  will 
thus  be  in  a  position  to  make  more  favorable  proposals  for  the  work 
than  when  making  ventures  with  scattering  bids  in  various  localities, 
and  with  unfamiliar  conditions. 

In  advocating  the  contract  method  of  doing  road  work,  I  recognize 
that  some  work  can  be  more  effectively  handled  by  day  labor  or  by 
special  arrangement.  There  is  a  distinction  between  road  making  and 
road  maintenance.  The  former  may  be  classed  as  intermittent  work, 
and  the  latter  as  continuous  work.  Maintenance  and  repair  work 
will  frequently  be  of  such  a  nature  that  it  cannot  be  advantageously 
contracted  for,  and  the  engineer  must  provide  for  this  class  of 
work  by  day  labor,  or  by  some  method  which  is  suggested  by  his 
experience.  In  general,  it  is  better  to  contract  for  all  work  which  is 
adaptable  to  that  method.  The  engineer's  operations  may  cover  an 
extended  field  and  cause  him  to  be  unable  to  personally  supervise  the 
work,  in  which  case  his  inspectors  or  other  assistants  must  act  for 
him,  and  they  can  be  better  employed  in  controlling  results  of  work 
done  at  the  contractor's  cost,  than  in  becoming  responsible  for  the  value 
of  work  done  by  the  engineer's  employees  who  maybe  so  scattered 
that  the  cost  of  supervision  will  equal  the  wages  paid  to  the  work- 
men. Another  reason  for  avoiding  the  direct  employment  of  work- 
men, is  that  it  means  the  purchase  of  tools  and  implements  for  the 
workmen,  and  this  will  always  be  unprofitable  unless  there  is  suffi- 


ENGINEERS  AND  CONTRACTORS  75 

cient  work  to  wear  them  out.  There  is  scarcely  a  worse  investment 
than  contractor's  outfit  which  is  not  employed. 

It  is  not  uncommon  for  a  contract  to  specify  that  the  contractor 
shall  guarantee  his  work  for  a  certain  period  of  tune,  sometimes 
reaching  into  years.  There  may  be  cases  where  a  contractor's  guar- 
anty is  justified,  but  it  is  a  questionable  practice.  Competent 
engineering  will  require  and  secure  good  work.  When  a  contract  is 
completed,  the  engineer  should  know  that  the  contractor  has  given 
the  full  value  of  work  specified  in  the  contract,  and  he  should  be  in  a 
position  to  pay  that  value  in  full.  The  engineer's  employment  should 
be  continuous.  He  should  be  a  permanent  officer  of  the  local  govern- 
ment, responsible  to  his  superiors  for  construction  and  maintenance 
of  the  roads.  This  responsibility,  as  has  been  stated,  should  clothe 
him  with  the  authority  necessary  to  secure  the  ends  he  is  employed 
to  attain. 

Since  the  engineer  is  the  official  who  makes  the  plans  and  controls 
the  execution  of  them;  while  the  contractor  works  under  his  instruc- 
tions, subject  to  the  terms  of  the  contract,  any  suggestions  as  to  road 
making  should  be  addressed  to  the  engineer,  who  will  communicate 
to  the  contractor  as  much  of  them  as  is  necessary  hi  carrying  out  the 
work.  I  purposely  avoid  mentioning  details  of  contracts,  plans  and 
specifications,  all  of  which  the  engineer  must  fit  to  the  particular 
problems  he  is  called  on  to  solve,  but  in  a  general  way,  I  venture  to 
suggest  some  of  the  elements  of  road  engineering  necessary  to  be 
observed  in  his  practice. 

He  must  always  maintain  an  equilibrium  between  the  amount 
of  work  he  plans  to  carry  out,  and  the  funds  available  to  pay  for  this 
work.  The  kind  and  amount  of  work  will  be  limited  by  the  sum 
appropriated  for  its  cost.  He  must  decide  whether  the  limitation  shall 
be  placed  on  the  kind  or  the  volume  of  the  work.  As  a  general  pro- 
position the  character  of  the  work  should  be  uniform.  To  secure  this 
he  may  have  to  sacrifice  his  ideals  and  fit  the  character  to  the  circum- 
stances controlling  the  case.  The  efficiency  of  a  road  is  determined 
by  the  tonnage  hauled.  For  a  given  distance  of  haul,  unless  the  road 
is  of  uniform  quality,  the  haul  will  be  limited  by  the  worst  portion 
of  the  road.  There  is,  therefore,  such  a  thing  as  making  the  road — 
or  at  least  a  portion  of  it — too  good,  if  the  funds  are  not  within  sight 
to  bring  the  whole  distance  to  the  same  good  quality. 

In  a  rich  and  populous  state  where  the  people  have  awakened  to 
the  necessity  for  good  roads  and  contemplated  the  expenditure  of 


76  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

more  than  $100,000,000  to  secure  that  end,  it  is  very  well  to  say, 
"we  will  build  no  cheap  roads,"  and  to  fix  a  standard  of  $5000  or 
$6000  per  mile  for  construction.  On  the  other  hand,  hi  the  case  of 
a  State  with  a  population  less  hi  density  and  with  a  much  smaller 
provision  of  funds,  and  yet  -<vith,  say,  80,000  miles  of  highway  within 
its  territory,  it  would  be  folly  to  adopt  such  expensive  construction. 
This  wonderfully  prosperous  country  owes  its  prosperity  more  to  its 
development  through  the  construction  of  cheap  railways  than  to  all 
other  causes  combined.  The  economic  results  obtained  by  cheap 
first  construction  in  order  to  provide  intercommunication  through- 
out a  great  area  have  been  demonstrated  beyond  question  hi  the  case 
of  railways,  and  the  principle  has  equal  application  in  the  matter  of 
highways.  The  improvement  of  highways  is  not  to  be  accomplished 
by  spending  all  the  available  money  in  spots.  These  highways  are  for 
the  whole  people  and  all  of  them  are  entitled  to  benefit  by  the  expendi- 
tures. Improve  the  condition  of  communities  by  giving  them  the 
best  roads  they  can  afford  at  the  present  time  and  the  resulting 
increased  prosperity  will  provide  the  means  for  bringing  them  to 
the  desired  standard.  The  kind  and  amount  of  road  construction 
depends  upon  conditions,  and  should  be  determined  by  the  exercise 
of  good  judgment  on  the  part  of  the  engineer. 

He  must  also  plan  to  maintain  the  road  to  the  standard  of  quality 
planned  for  its  construction.  This  means  constant  attention  and 
repairs  to  meet  the  deterioration  resulting  from  wear  and  weather 
effects.  The  old  adage  of  "a  stitch  in  time  saves  nine"  is  nowhere 
more  applicable  than  to  road  maintenance.  This  is  a  most  important 
consideration,  and  it  emphasizes  the  requirement  that  the  office  of 
road  engineeer  should  be  a  permanent  one.  The  maintenance  of 
roads  requires  a  knowledge  of  all  the  conditions  affecting  them.  The 
engineer  stands  toward  a  road  in  his  care  as  a  doctor  does  toward  his 
patient,  and  to  diagnose  the  case  of  a  road,  the  engineer  must  feel  its 
pulse,  take  its  temperature,  and  learn  all  about  it.  A  helpful  and 
satisfactory  way  of  doing  this,  is  to  keep  statistics  of  work  done,  of 
cost  of  repairs,  and  of  the  times  and  seasons  of  treatment.  These 
statistics  can  be  diagrammed  so  that  the  engineer  may,  with  a  hasty 
glance,  read  the  record,  and  learn  both  what  has  been  done  and  what 
is  needed  to  be  done. 

The  road  engineer  will,  in  the  future,  be  judged  by  his  performance, 
as  compared  with  what  is  accomplished  elsewhere.  If  a  system  of 
good  roads  is  promoted  throughout  the  country,  there  will  be  pre- 


ENGINEERS  AND  CONTRACTORS  77 

cedents  and  new  records  established  for  road  work,  in  kind,  quality, 
and  cost,  which  will,  from  time  to  time,  fix  new  standards  in  these 
respects. 

It  may  appear  that  my  remarks  about  the  duties  of  engineers  are 
out  of  place  in  a  brief  address  on  the  relation  between  engineers  and 
contractors,  but  I  have  made  the  digression  advisedly,  as  I  will  now 
try  to  explain.  A  fair  consideration  of  the  work  and  duties  of  the 
road  engineer  will  bring  many  of  us  who  have  practiced  the  profession 
in  other  lines,  to  the  realization  of  the  great  field  of  employment 
opening  to  us  in  this  particular  class  of  work.  The  practice  of  the 
road  engineer  will  require  knowledge,  skill,  experience,  judgment 
and  business  qualities,  of  high  grade,  which  will  lead  many  of  us  to 
engage  in  this  special  line  of  work.  This  will  benefit  my  profession, 
and  in  a  greater  degree  will  benefit  our  nation.  For  the  contractor 
there  will  be  provided  a  steady  and  profitable  business,  which  from 
its  nature  can  be  conducted  in  a  moderate  way  with  small  capital, 
a  most  desirable  condition  in  these  days  when  there  is  so  great  com- 
plaint about  the  monopolization  of  business  by  combinations  of 
capital,  which  closes  doors  of  opportunity  to  men  of  small  means 
with  capacity  to  work  for  themselves.  The  time  is  auspicious  for 
the  road  engineers  and  the  road  contractors.  This  congress,  and  the 
Association  which  called  it,  will  make  its  mark  on  our  nation  through- 
out all  its  confines.  It  may  not  be  today  nor  tomorrow,  but  the  Amer- 
ican people,  when  they  have  set  their  minds  on  the  acquisition  of 
good  roads,  will  have  them.  With  our  people,  to  will  is  to  do,  and  it 
appears  that  we  have  the  will. 

The  American  Association  for  Highway  Improvement  will  provide 
a  medium  of  communication  for  engineers  and  contractors,  and  I 
look  toward  the  future,  and  see  conventions  of  them  discussing  plans 
and  methods,  as  is  done  in  the  great  railway  associations.  The  asso- 
ciations of  railway  engineers,  of  superintendents  of  bridges  and  build- 
ings, of  master  mechanics,  and  of  master  car  builders,  have,  in  their 
meetings,  within  a  few  years  achieved  a  uniformity  and  excellence 
of  practice  which  appears  marvelous  to  those  familiar  with  the  practice 
a  few  years  ago.  Such  meetings  of  road  engineers  and  of  road  con- 
tractors will  result  in  satisfactory  forms  of  contract,  specifications, 
plans,  methods,  and  costs,  for  building  and  maintaining  roads,  which 
will  be  profitable  to  them,  and  far  more  profitable  to  our  citizens  who 
must  bear  the  cost. 


78  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

CHAIRMAN  PARKER:  The  next  address  will  be  made  by  Captain 
D.  L.  Hough,  who  is  the  president  of  the  United  Engineering  and  Con- 
tracting Company. 

MR.  HOUGH:  My  subject  is  the  same  as  Mr.  Bates',  but  I  treat  it 
from  a  rather  different  point  of  view,  that  of  the  contractor.  You 
will  find  a  great  many  things  in  my  paper  that  are  in  Mr.  Bates'. 

THE  CONTRACTOR  IN  ROAD  WORK 

CAPTAIN  D.  L.  HOUGH 

President  The  United  Engineering  and  Contracting  Company, 
17  W.  4%nd  Street,  New  York 

When  Mr.  Page,  through  an  engineer  for  whom  I  have  the  highest 
esteem,  and  one  whose  any  request  I  would  gladly  fulfill,  asked  me 
to  prepare  an  address  upon  the  contractors'  side  of  road  building  to 
be  presented  to  this  distinguished  congress,  I  very  naturally  plead 
lack  of  ability  and  experience  in  both  composition  and  delivery,  and 
pointed  out  that  I  was  not  a  specialist  in  cross-country  highway  con- 
struction, and  that  neither  of  the  contracting  organizations  with  which 
I  am  associated  made  a  specialty  of  this  class  of  work. 

His  insistence,  however,  and  that  of  his  intercessor,  that  the  sub- 
ject might  be  treated  generally  and  that  what  has  to  do  with  contract- 
ing in  general  would  have  an  equal  bearing  upon  road  building,  to- 
gether with  my  strong  feeling  that  contractors  and  engineers  are 
growing  to  understand  each  other  better,  and  my  strong  desire  to 
further  in  any  way  possible  that  end,  caused  me  to  hesitate  and  finally 
to  agree  to  make  the  attempt. 

In  approaching  the  subject,  that,  it  may  be  readily  appreciated  is 
one  in  the  treatment  of  which  a  seeming  spirit  of  contentiousness 
might  be  apparent,  I  want  to  make  clear  in  the  premises  that  there 
is  nothing  whatever  in  what  I  have  to  say,  seeming  or  otherwise, 
that  is  in  criticism  of  engineers  individually  or  as  a  body.  The  sug- 
gestions that  are  made  are  directed  toward  a  system,  or,  perhaps, 
to  avoid  the  use  of  a  thread-bare  expression,  a  practice. 

The  present  speaker  has  had  the  privilege  and  the  honor  to  work 
as  a  contractor  under  some  very  able  engineers,  and  has  fulfilled  many 
contracts  without  a  voice  being  raised,  and  completed  the  jobs  with 
the  feeling  that  his  company  has  been  treated  with  absolute  fairness, 


THE  CONTRACTOR  IN  ROAD  WORK  79 

and  with  the  acknowledgment  on  the  part  of  the  principals  that  the 
work  had  been  done  by  this  company  (the  lowest  bidder),  well,  honestly 
and  without  friction. 

On  the  other  hand,  he  has  done  considerable  work  for  concerns 
whose  policy  seemed  to  be  based  upon  the  belief  that  if  the  contractor 
was  not  losing  money  there  must  be  something  wrong,  that  the  work 
was  not  being  well  done,  or  he  was  not  doing  enough;  and  has  worked 
under  engineers  whose  desire  to  return  full  value  to  their  employers 
led  them  to  be  a  little  unreasonable  without  their  ability  to  under- 
stand that  that  very  attitude  was  indirectly  opposed  to  the  interests 
of  their  principals. 

Looking  at  it  broadly,  I  believe  that  these  engineers  are  the  victims 
of  a  misunderstood  policy  rather  than  originators  of  a  policy  of  their 
own.  The  speaker,  perhaps,  is  in  a  favorable  position  to  discuss  the 
relations  between  contractor  and  engineer  because  for  the  first  ten 
years  after  graduation,  he  was  employed  in  that  capacity,  and  when 
I  look  back  upon  some  of  the  ideas  that  I  felt  inspired,  by  a  conscious 
duty,  and,  unfortunately,  had  the  authority,  to  enforce,  I  frequently 
feel  that  I  ought  to  go  pay  a  personal  visit  to  certain  contractors  and 
contractors'  superintendents  and  industrial  salesmen  and  try  to 
square  myself  even  at  this  late  day. 

Just  as  it  is  true  that  nothing  helps  a  man  to  admit  and  correct  hie 
own  faults  and  short-comings  as  the  appearance  and  necessity  to 
correct  the  same  faults  and  short-comings  in  his  growing  children, 
there  is  nothing  that  makes  an  engineer  realize  the  falsity  of  his  point 
of  view  as  a  young  man  when  serving  as  an  engineer,  as  to  have  some 
experience  as  a  manager  for  a  contractor. 

If  I  were  the  manager  of  a  great  industrial  enterprise,  for  instance, 
a  railroad  or  a  public  utilities  property,  I  would  select  for  my  staff 
only  those  engineers  who  had  had  at  least  a  few  years  experience  on 
the  contractors'  side. 

On  the  other  hand,  I  hold  no  brief  from  my  fellow-contractors  and 
this  address  is  not  intended  as  an  apology  or  a  petition  for  merey 
in  their  behalf  any  more  than  it  is  a  criticism  of  engineers  as  a  class. 

Taking  up  at  first  some  general  thoughts,  later  to  be  applied  to 
road  specifications  in  particular: 

The  principle  of  the  contract  is  the  actual  foundation  of  all  social, 
business  and  professional  relations  and  economies. 

The  very  essence  of  a  contract  is  mutuality;  and  the  more  this  most 
important  principle  of  a  contract  is  kept  before  our  minds,  the  more 


80  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

faithfully  will  the  contract  be  carried  out  and  the  less  will  be  the 
friction  developed.  In  fact,  as  in  that  well  known  rhyme,  in  that 
very  statement,  my  story  is  begun  and  it  might  be  considered  that 
story,  is  done,  because:  if  the  mutuality  of  a  contract  is  kept  always 
before  us,  and  it  is  understood  that  when  a  contract  is  once  signed 
the  parties  thereto  have  equal  rights  thereunder,  are  on  an  equal  foot- 
Ing,  and  that  there  is  nothing  in  contractual  relations  that  places  the 
party  who  pays  with  his  money  on  a  higher  plane -than  the  party  who 
pays  with  his  materials  and  services,  or  vice  versa,  and  if  the  engineer 
considers  himself  a  non-partisan  arbitrator,  there  is  nothing  left  to 
be  desired;  and  what  I  have  to  say  deals  most  largely  with  this  funda- 
mental element  of  contracts. 

The  original  contract  was  verbal,  and  the  original  contracts  were 
carried  out  at  the  moment  of  their  making,  whether  it  was  a  matter 
of  barter  with  the  exchange  of  commodities  on  the  part  of  both 
parties  thereto,  or  a  consideration  for  a  service  rendered. 

As  time  went  on,  the  mortality  of  the  human  being  and  the  frailty 
of  the  human  memory  required  that  a  record  be  made  of  a  contract, 
which  at  present  requires  that  it  be  reduced  to  writing;  but  every 
contract,  written  or  otherwise,  must  have  in  it  at  least  the  implica- 
tion of  that  essential  consideration  without  which  it  is  no  contract — 
the  mutuality  thereof — whether  it  be  the  price  mark  upon  a  tin 
whistle,  or  the  elaborate  agreements  drawn  between  two  great  institu- 
tions by  profound  students  of  the  law. 

The  less  a  contract  has  in  it,  provided  it  cover  the  points  at  issue, 
the  safer  it  is  for  both  parties.  There  is  no  better  contract  between 
honest  men  than  a  verbal  contract.  Upon  such  a  contract  the  minds 
usually  meet  and  there  is  no  "  trimming, "  nor  any  attempt  to  see 
how  much  can  be  gotten  out  of  the  party  of  the  one  part,  nor  how 
little  may  be  given  the  party  of  the  other  part,  as  such  contracts  are 
only  made  and  carried  out  between  men  who  trust  each  other. 

It  would  be  a  very  excellent  thing  if  all  those  who  draw  contracts 
might  realize  that  the  more  they  go  into  detail  and  the  tighter  they 
make  a  contract  in  certain  points,  the  weaker  it  is  with  regard  to 
those  considerations  that  may  develop  that  are  not  covered  in  detail. 
If  a  contract  were  drawn  to  lay  down  one  or  two  general  principles 
as  to  the  relations  to  exist  between  the  principal  and  the  contractor 
and  then  state  that  all  matters  that  may  arise  are  to  be  adjudicated 
upon  those  principles;  and  then  if  it  could  be  understood  that  the 
engineer,  made  the  arbitrator  under  the  terms  of  the  contract,  was 


THE  CONTRACTOR  IN  ROAD  WORK  81 

actually  as  such  the  agent  of  both  the  parties  thereto,  most  of  the 
difficulties  that  arise  and  the  friction  that  develops  would  be 
eliminated. 

What  are  the  circumstances  that  lead  to  the  drawing  of  a  contract? 
An  individual  or  a  group  of  men  want  something  manufactured  or 
constructed  that  they  neither  have  the  knowledge  nor  experience  nor 
the  equipment  to  manufacture  or  construct  for  themselves;  they 
retain  an  engineer  chosen  as  an  expert  in  such  matters;  they  outline 
to  him  what  they  want;  he  studies  the  physical  conditions,  if  it  be 
a  matter  of  construction,  with  which  we,  in  this  congress,  have  most 
to  do,  he  draws  a  plan  setting  forth  the  limits  of  the  structure,  and 
prepares  a  specification  as  to  the  qualities  of  the  materials,  and  the 
methods  of  construction,  and  the  character  of  workmanship;  and 
a  contract  is  drawn  setting  forth  the  terms  under  which  his  clients 
are  willing  to  pay  their  money,  as  the  consideration,  for  the  construc- 
tion. 

This  is  then  submitted  to  contractors  for  them  to  make  their  offers, 
and  right  here  develops  one  of  the  great  disadvantages  of  the  present 
practice.  Instead  of  permitting  the  contractor  to  make  suggestions, 
as  to  modifications  of  the  plans  or  qualtities  of  materials  or  methods 
of  construction,  in  advance,  so  that  he  may  make  a  better  price  or 
give  better  satisfaction  because  of  his  experience  and  the  nature  of 
his  equipment,  too  often  the  contractor  will  not  be  heard  and  he  must 
make  his  proposal  absolutely  under  the  terms  of  the  plans  and  speci- 
fications, and  after  signing  the  contract  it  is  too  late  for  changes. 
Discussion  usually  results  in  friction. 

Ultimately  the  contractor  is  selected,  a  contract  is  signed,  sealed 
and  delivered;  the  principal  appoints  an  engineer  to  look  after  his 
interests  during  construction,  and  in  so  far  as  he  lays  out,  direct 
and  inspects  the  character  of  materials  and  workmanship,  the  engineer 
is  properly  the  representative  of  the  principal;  but  under  the  terms 
of  those  clauses  where  he  is  made  the  arbitrator,  interpreter  and  esti- 
mator, he  is  the  representative  of  both  parties  and  should  be  abso- 
lutely non-partisan. 

The  suggestion  has  often  been  made  that  the  engineer  is  in  the 
employ  of,  and  paid  by  the  principal  and  should,  therefore,  serve  his 
interests  first.  This  is  not  the  case.  If  he  were  employed  by  both 
concerns,  that  is,  if  his  fees  were  paid  partly  by  the  principal  and 
partly  by  the  contractor,  that  portion  borne  by  the  contractor  would 
be  added  to  the  contractor's  estimated  cost  and  would  be  in  the  con- 


82  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

tract  price.  If  the  principal  prefers  to  pay  this  portion  of  the  engi- 
neer's salary  direct,  then  the  contractor  leaves  this  sum  out  of  his 
costs. 

Actually,  therefore,  the  engineer  is  so  far  as  he  is  the  arbitrator, 
that  is,  is  made  the  final  court  of  appeals  under  the  terms  of  the 
contract  by  both  contractee  and  contractor,  he  is  the  employee  of 
both  and  must  not  be  partisan;  and  if  he  is  partisan,  he  is  not  faithful 
to  the  trust  imposed  hi  him  by  the  other  party,  and  yet  how  shocking 
this  statement  may  sound  to  those  obsessed  by  the  present  practice. 

It  is  with  delight,  however,  that  it  may  be  said  that  ordinarily  the 
broad-minded,  capable  engineer  outgrows  this  narrow  point  of  view, 
and  the  more  broadly  an  engineer  interprets  a  contract,  the  bigger 
he  is  ,  and  if  the  records  of  the  big  men  in  the  engineering  profession 
are  studied,  it  will  be  found  that  those  at  the  head  of  the  profession 
are  those  who  have  been  the  most  fair  in  the  adjudication  of  contracts. 

The  too  strict  and  strenuous  enforcement  of  the  narrowest  inter- 
pretation of  a  contract,  although  not  confined  to  young  men,  is  essenti- 
ally an  attribute  of  young  men,  and  it  has  frequently  been  stated  that 
one  of  the  reasons  that  one  encounters  so  often  among  important 
manufacturing  and  contracting  concerns  the  policy  of  refusal  to  bid 
for  government  work  is  that  the  young  man  just  out  of  the  govern- 
ment's engineering  schools  immediately  becomes  a  chief  engineer 
and  the  final  court  of  appeal  in  the  interpretation  of  contracts,  before 
he  has  recovered  from  his  training  as  for  war,  wherein  the  orders 
of  an  officer  must  be  obeyed  and  all  is  fair  that  helps  your  side  to  win, 
and  before  they  have  become  seasoned  to  commercial  life,  wherein 
mutuality  should  prevail.  A  warrior  too,  is  the  finest  example  of 
a  partisan. 

There  is  the  added  condition  that  the  government  engineer  with 
his  great  pride  in  his  corps,  loses  a  little  of  his  sense  of  proportion, 
and,  unconsciously  follows  the  theory  that  he  must  avoid  not  only 
evil,  but  the  appearance  therof,  with  the  result  that  the  rights  of  the 
contractor  are  lost  sight  of. 

Here  again,  I  want  to  reiterate  that  it  is  a  habit,  or  perhaps  a 
tradition  that  is  discussed,  there  are  engineers  in  the  government 
service,  both  army  and  navy,  that  are  as  fair  as  any  men  that  live, 
and  in  whose  hands  a  contractor's  rights  are  appropriately  respected. 

In  private  work  where  there  is  usually  some  senior  official  to  whom 
appeal  may  be  made,  the  presence  of  the  young  man  as  the  construc- 
tion engineer  is  not  so  menacing,  in  that,  appeal  may  be  made  beyond; 


THE  CONTRACTOR  IN  ROAD  WORK  83 

but  here  again  the  contractor  is  at  a  disadvantage  in  that  frequently 
it  is  very  difficult  for  even  the  biggest  and  broadest  of  engineers  to 
go  on  record  reversing  the  ruling  of  his  subordinate;  and  second; 
because  it  is  more  or  less  embarrassing  to  seem  to  be  giving  way  to 
the  other  party. 

It  has  been  frequently  said,  and  the  speaker  has  had  it  said  to  him : 
"You  know,  of  course,  if  you  think  I  am  unfair,  you  have  the  right 
to  appeal  to  the  courts. "  This,  naturally,  is  true  in  connection  with 
every  sort  of  contract  except  those  with  the  government  or  the  state. 
But  what  is  the  result?  One  must  wait  three  or  four  years  for  the 
case  to  come  to  trial;  then  become  the  victim  of  the  relative  cleverness 
of  counsel  and  the  lack  of  understanding  or  bias  of  the  jury. 

In  the  end,  a  compromise  verdict  may  be  obtained,  but  this  results 
in  only  a  partial  recovery  for  the  contractor  that  must  be  further 
reduced  by  the  expense  of  litigation,  counsel  fees,  witness  fees,  and 
loss  of  his  own  time  in  preparation  of  any  presence  at  the  trial,  and 
in  addition,  the  grave  impairment  of  the  contractor's  earning  power, 
in  the  inability  to  take  other  work  because  his  capital  is  tied  up. 

For  this  very  reason,  an  engineer  ought  to  be  scrupulously  fair  to 
the  contractor  and  keep  him  out  of  the  courts,  rather  than  a  little 
unfair  on  the  ground  that  he  wants  the  justification  of  the  court's 
decree  before  he  gives  up  to  the  contractor  something  for  which  he 
may  fear  criticism.  There  is  possibly  some  slight  excuse  for  this  in 
the  case  of  a  public  servant  who  is  always  the  target  for  criticism  and 
investigation,  but  still  there  is  a  little  weakness  present  in  even  the 
public  servant  when  he  does  a  wrong,  no  matter  how  slight,  for  the 
benefit  of  his  personal  security. 

To  turn  to  the  contractor:  there  are  bad  contractors  as  well  as 
good  contractors,  and  this  is  true  of  every  trade  and  profession. 
There  are  contractors  of  whom  it  is  said  that  as  soon  as  they  sign 
a  contract  they  look  it  over  to  find  the  weak  spots  developed  by  the 
very  presence  of  clauses  that  are  too  stringent,  who  study  where 
it  may  be  beaten,  and  it  is  the  justification  of  most  engineers  that 
admittedly  unfair  clauses  are  included  in  contracts  to  protect  them 
against  the  unfair  contractor,  and  that  if  they  meet  a  fair  contractor 
these  will  not  be  enforced.  It  is  an  old  adage  that  two  wrongs  do 
not  make  a  right,  and  if  the  average  man  sat  in  arbitration  upon  a 
contract  of  this  sort,  the  evident  unfairnesss  of  the  contract  should 
cause  him  to  be  more  careful  in  seeing  that  fairness  be  done,  even  to 
a  contractor  of  unfavorable  reputation. 


84  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

Further  than  this :  no  contract  was  ever  drawn  that  some  unexpected 
condition  might  not  arise  that  would  be  found  not  to  be  covered  by 
the  clauses  therein.  It  is  but  human  in  such  an  event  that  the  con- 
tractor who  is  tied  up  by  an  unreasonable  contract  should  seek  his 
opportunity  to  square  himself. 

The  speaker  has  sometimes  wondered  how  much  of  the  tradition 
that  the  old-fashioned  government  and  municipal  contractor  was  a 
rascal  grew  out  of  the  fact  that  the  old-fashioned  contractor  was 
usually  not  an  educated  engineer  and  had  to  depend  upon  some  man 
of  alleged  training  to  make  his  estimate,  and,  finding  that  he  had  been 
let  into  a  ruinous  agreement,  tried  to  pull  through  as  best  he  could. 

Has  it  occurred  to  you  that  wherever  there  is  actual  foundation 
for  the  condemnation  of  a  contractor  for  corruption,  there  was  also 
present  corruption  on  the  other  side. 

In  what  follows,  no  reflection  upon  the  fine,  up-standing,  sterling 
character  of  many  of  the  men  who  have  spent  their  lives  in  contracting, 
and  to  whom  the  stability,  efficiency  and  fine  appearance  of  most  of 
our  structures  in  this  country  are  due,  is  intended. 

But  today  contracting  has  become  a  business  in  which  organiza- 
tions have  been  built  up  of  quite  as  high  a  character  as  in  any  other 
line  of  industrial  effort;  in  recent  years  there  has  been  brought  into 
its  conduct,  integrity  and  intelligence  equal  to  that  found  in  any 
other  line  of  activity.  There  are  two  reasons  for  this. 

First :  the  fact  that  our  technical  schools  are  turning  out  each  year 
such  a  vast  number  of  young  men  trained  not  as  engineers,  but  pre- 
pared to  receive  the  training  of  engineers.  These  young  men,  enter- 
ing the  field  of  engineering,  soon  find  the  market  for  employment 
over-supplied,  and,  securing  a  job,  find  the  opportunity  for  advance- 
ment limited,  while  anybody  can  take  his  chance  at  securing  a  contract 
and  the  alleged  greater  independence  of  the  contractor  appeals  to 
his  ambition. 

Second:  the  character  of  contract  work  now  offered  is  of  much 
higher  grade  than  the  elementary  work  from  which  it  grew.  It  takes 
just  as  good  a  man  acting  as  managing  engineer  for  the  contractor 
to  carry  out  the  work  as  it  does  to  design  and  lay  out  the  work. 

The  changed  conditions  can  be  no  more  fittingly  illustrated  than 
by  an  incident  that  was  recently  called  to  the  speaker's  attention. 
Some  foundations  were  being  built  for  an  oft-mentioned  bridge  by 
a  contractor  who  had  picked  out  a  foreman  from  another  organiza- 
tion with  which  he  had  been  associated  in  a  business  capacity.  This 


THE  CONTRACTOR  IN  ROAD  WORK  85 

foreman  was  practically  in  charge  of  the  concrete  mixer;  the  unit 
batch  requiring  three  bags  of  cement  under  the  specifications. 

One  day  the  inspecting  engineer  came  to  the  contractor  with  the 
statement  that,  perched  upon  the  super-structure  of  a  portion  of 
the  bridge  already  completed,  he  had  watched  this  foreman  for  two 
hours  putting  but  two  bags  of  cement  into  each  batch.  He  further 
said  that  the  bottom  footing  course  into  which  that  particular  concrete 
was  going  was  of  such  a  nature  that  he  considered  the  leaner  concrete 
wholly  sufficient  for  the  purpose.  As  a  consequence,  he  would  not 
insist  upon  this  concrete  being  taken  out,  thus  imposing  upon  the 
contractor  considerable  expense  as  he  felt  sure  from  his  personal 
acquaintance  with  the  contractor  that  the  holding  out  of  the  cement 
had  not  been  perpetrated  at  his  direction  or  even  with  his  knowl- 
edge, but  he  insisted  that  the  foreman  be  removed. 

The  contractor  had  a  talk  with  the  foreman  and  explained  to  him 
that  he  did  not  want  to  have  his  work  done  that  way;  first,  because 
it  was  dishonest;  second,  because  the  concrete  might  have  gone  into 
some  part  of  the  work,  that  failing,  would  have  ruined  his  reputa- 
tion; third,  because  it  would  hurt  him  as  a  business  proposition  if  it 
were  known  that  he  was  a  contractor  who  habitually  "beat"  his  con- 
tracts. 

The  foreman  protested  that  it  had  been  the  habit  with  his  previous 
employers,  and  that  what  he  had  done,  he  had  done  for  the  best 
interest  of  his  present  employer,  and  it  was  evident  that  he  could  not 
understand  the  great  injustice  seemingly  done  him,  and  the  seeming 
ingratitude  of  the  contractor.  He  was  told,  however,  that  he  would 
have  to  go.  Two  days  later  word  came  to  the  contractor  that  this 
man  had  gone  home,  had  brooded  over  the  unfairness  done  him,  and 
had  committed  suicide. 

Regrettable  as  was  the  tragedy  resulting,  there  are  two  things 
that  it  accentuates: 

First,  that  the  contractors  of  the  present  day  realize  the  importance 
of  the  structure  thay  are  building  and  want  to  do  honest  and  fair 
work,  and  must  do  it  if  they  are  to  succeed. 

Second,  the  fair  and  reasonable  attitude  of  the  inspecting  engineer. 
Under  the  terms  of  the  contract,  he  had  the  right  to  order  out  the 
concrete,  and  the  contractor  could  not  have  grumbled  if  he  had. 
Perhaps  the  concrete  in  this  footing  should  have  been  made  of  a 
separate  class,  but  the  engineer  recognizing  the  situation,  allowed 
it  to  remain  in  place,  making  the  very  appropriate  insistence  that  the 


86  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

price  paid  for  the  batches  should  be  reduced  by  the  value  of  the  cement, 
omitted. 

There  must  be  two  sides  to  a  contract  as  is  implied  by  the  very 
definition  of  the  work,  and  the  presence  of,  and  the  surveillance  by 
the  inspectors  of  the  one  side  are  a  benefit  to  the  other.  It  is  but 
human  nature  for  a  contractor's  foreman  when  he  has  made  a  mistake 
to  try  to  hide  it  or  to  make  the  best  of  it.  The  scrutiny  of  an  inspec- 
tor often  prevents  the  harm  that  might  result  to  the  contractor 
because  of  the  failure  of  that  part  of  the  work  where  the  error  was 
made,  or  its  detection  at  a  time  when  the  expense  of  replacement 
would  be  embarrassing.  The  more,  however,  this  sort  of  reasonable 
"Give  and  take,"  as  set  forth  in  the  illustration,  is  practised  between 
the  contractee  and  the  contractor,  the  better  will  be  the  character  of 
the  work  done  and  the  cheaper  the  resulting  costs  for,  as  pointed  out 
heretofore,  if  conflict  develops,  the  contractor  must  stand  an  actual 
loss  even  if  he  recovers  at  law,  and  there  is  additional  cost  to  the 
contractee  because  the  contractor  is  forced  to  throw  up  the  job. 

It  is  almost  the  universal  experience  in  contracts  that  include  deep 
excavation  that  the  character  of  the  excavated  material  not  having 
been  developed  by  previous  work  in  the  same  locality  is  found  to  differ 
from  that  expected,  no  matter  how  carefully  exploration  and  investi- 
gation may  be  made,  the  samples  from  a  boring  in  many  cases  cannot 
show  the  condition  of  the  soil  as  it  exists  in  its  original  position. 

The  courts  have  frequently  and  recently  decided  suits  growing  out 
of  such  conditions  on  the  broad  basis  that  the  contractor  should  receive 
a  dollar  for  a  dollar's  worth  of  work  and  that  it  cannot  be  expected 
that  a  contractor  in  the  limited  time  allowed  him  shall  check  and 
duplicate  investigations  made  by  the  engineers  of  the  contractee 
during  a  protracted  period. 

The  advantages  of  a  clause  under  which  the  unexpected  conditions 
might  be  considered  and  a  price  arrived  at  by  the  rule  of  three,  based 
upon  the  price  named  for  the  material  as  it  was  indicated,  are  so  evi- 
dent that  it  is  a  surprise  that  such  a  clause  is  so  infrequently  found. 

There  has  appeared  in  recent  contracts  drawn  by  lawyers  of  national 
reputation,  a  clause  calling  upon  the  contractor  to  guarantee  the 
efficiency  and  sufficiency  of  the  design.  This  clause  could  not  have 
been  drawn  by  an  engineer.  The  engineer  who  would  frame  such  a 
clause  would  seemingly  have  a  very  poor  opinion  of  his  own  qualifi- 
cation and  very  little  courage  as  to  his  own  convictions.  Consider 
for  a  moment  such  a  clause.  The  contractor  is  called  upon  to  make 


THE  CONTRACTOR  IN  ROAD  WORK  87 

a  bid  to  build  something  of  a  certain  character,  of  certain  materials 
and  in  a  certain  way;  no  matter  what  the  conditions  that  he  meets 
may  be  no  matter  what  the  inefficiency  or  the  insufficiency  of  the  orig- 
inal design,  he  must  make  good  without  any  change  in  price  and  he 
cannot  have  the  work  unless  he  accepts  this  condition. 

Could  anything  be  more  unfair?  The  party  of  the  one  part  goes 
on  record  that  he  considers  that  his  design  is  efficient  and  sufficient. 
If  he  does  not  believe  it,  the  contract  is  dishonest.  If  he  does  believe 
it,  then  why  should  not  the  contractor  who  lacks  the  information  and 
the  experience  believe  it;  and  if  things  turn  out  differently,  why  is 
not  the  contractee  as  much  mistaken  as  the  contractor. 

It  would  seem  that  there  is  no  possibility  of  a  difference  of  opinion 
on  the  point  that  with  differing  conditions  a  different  price  should 
be  made;  and  yet  such  a  contract  has  to  go  to  the  courts  where  the 
lawyers  of  the  one  side  will  contend  that  the  written  instrument  must 
prevail.  Whether  this  expression  will  hold  in  court  has  not  yet 
been  determined,  as  it  has  never  been  brought  to  issue.  Under  the 
conditions  developed  by  one  contract  in  which  this  clause  is  included, 
if  it  is  held  to  be  proper  by  the  courts,  a  contractor  will  be  wiped 
out.  If  it  is  held  as  not  legally  binding,  then  the  actual  cost  of  the 
work  will  be  very  much  increased  to  the  contractee,  in  that  so  much 
time  and  money  was  wasted  in  trying  to  hold  to  the  specifications 
that  later  on  were  modified. 

The  purpose  of  this  example  is  to  point  out  that  there  is  always 
considerable  "flare-back"  in  an  unfair  contract,  and  that  given  a 
fair  and  reasonable  contractor,  a  fair  and  reasonable  contractee,  and 
under  the  arbitrative  authority  of  a  fair  and  reasonable  engineer, 
contracts  should  be  drawn  so  that  they  may  be  automatically  and 
not  autocratically  modified  to  meet  actual  conditions  as  the  work 
progresses. 

There  is  another  clause  that  may  well  be  in  every  contract  particu- 
larly with  State  and  city  governments;  one  that  will  set  forth  that  the 
contract  is  based  upon  the  prevailing  rate  of  wages  and  the  prevailing 
hours  of  work  at  the  time  the  contract  is  signed.  Then  if  those  who 
control  our  destinies  through  the  legislature  find  it  advisable  to  limit 
the  hours  of  work  or  to  pass  legislation  that  shall  affect  the  prevail- 
ing rate  of  wages,  that  an  equivalent  increase  shall  be  made  in  con- 
tract prices. 

I  have  no  quarrel  with  labor  or  labor  unions;  I  want  to  see  the  men 
get  all  the  money  justifiable,  and  want  to  pay  them  as  much  as 


88  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

anyone  else,  and  prefer  to  see  the  wages  fixed  so  that  all  contractors 
are  on  the  same  basis  and  appropriate  punishment  devised  for  those 
irresponsible  contractors  who  cut  contract  prices  and  do  not  pay  their 
men;  but  it  seems  definitely  unfair  that  a  State  should  make  a  con- 
tract with  an  individual  to  do  certain  work  at  a  certain  price  and  then, 
thereafter,  proceed  to  increase  the  cost  of  the  work  by  reducing  the 
hours  of  labor  or  increasing  the  rate  of  pay  without  an  equivalent 
benefit  to  the  contractor  who  labors  harder  than  any  of  his  men. 

Turning  to  the  standard  road  specifications  of  the  various  States 
as  furnished  me  by  Mr.  Page;  it  is  found  that  the  work  of  road  build- 
ing presents  but  few  items.  The  mere  construction  of  a  road  is 
quite  elementary.  Specifications  may  be  made  so  brief  that  there 
seems  but  little  opportunity  to  discuss  them  and  the  plant  required 
to  construct  a  road  is  so  simple  that  it  would  seem  to  put  road  construc- 
tion into  the  hands  of  any  man  who  may  buy  picks  and  shovels,  a 
few  carts,  and  a  roller  and  sprinkler. 

But  as  one  studies  a  little  more  carefully,  one  sees  that  it  is  not  the 
actual  construction  that  presents  the  difficulties.  It  is  more  a  matter 
of  organization  and  transportation.  There  is  so  little  work  in  any 
one  locality  that  proportionately  vast  amounts  of  money  may  be 
lost  by  momentary  delays  or  the  breaking  up  of  the  organization  by 
breaking  up  the  sequence  of  the  work,  and  in  the  securing  of  materials 
the  plant  required  instead  of  being  almost  negligible  as  a  percent- 
age of  the  total  cost  of  the  work,  may  become  a  very  important 
percentage. 

For  this  reason,  the  engineer  should  be  most  careful  to  point  out 
the  difficulties  to  be  encountered  when  he  prepares  his  schedule  of 
information  to  be  furnished  prospective  bidders,  and  in  this  particular, 
I  find  the  road  specifications  of  none  of  the  States  adequate. 

The  engineer  who  is  engaged  to  prepare  the  specifications  for  a 
road  contract,  knowing  what  he  wants  in  the  way  of  a  road  and  of 
what  materials  he  wants  it  built,  should  describe  not  only  the  actual 
location  of  the  road  and  its  grades  and  cross-sections,  but  should 
investigate  the  sources  of  materials.  They  should  point  out  to  con- 
tractors what  rock  they  are  willing  to  use,  where  it  may  be  found; 
what  sand  they  are  willing  to  use,  where  that  may  be  found,  either 
along  the  line  or  within  reachable  distance;  the  stations  of  the  rail- 
roads most  accessible  to  the  sources  of  supply  of  material;  and  the 
highways  by  which  access  may  be  given.  Such  information  would 
result  in  lower  prices  in  many  cases,  and  would  prevent  the  presenta- 


THE  CONTRACTOR  IN  ROAD  WORK  89 

tion  of  bids  at  too  low  a  price  because  of  a  lack  of  information  with 
the  result  that  the  contractor  fails  and  the  work  must  be  relet  with 
the  delay  and  additional  expense  that  must  ensue. 

Then  the  location  of  the  highway  should  be  studied  at  every  point 
from  end  to  end,  and  the  desired  treatment  set  forth  in  detail,  and 
there  should  be  a  general  clause  outlining  a  basis  for  the  adjustment 
of  prices  to  meet  any  conditions  that  may  reasonably  develop. 

The  securing  of  materials  and  their  transportation  to  the  point 
of  construction  of  the  highway  is  one  of  the  most  important  elements 
in  the  building  of  roads.  There  are,  of  course,  localities  where  this 
is  reduced  to  a  minimum  because  the  materials  may  be  bought  more 
cheaply  than  produced. 

Organization  and  uninterrupted  procedure  with  the  work  is  the 
most  important  consideration  of  all.  Where  the  contractor  must 
produce  his  own  materials  and  deliver  them  with  his  own  facilities, 
a  road  building  contract  becomes  practically  a  manufacturing  and 
transportation  proposition,  and  it  takes  an  unusual  order  of  ability  and 
much  versatility  on  the  part  of  the  contractor  to  do  good  work. 

Turning  to  the  actual  construction :  I  find  in  most  of  the  specifica- 
tions but  one  item  for  excavation,  and  in  this  is  included  the  more 
or  less  immaterial  item  of  grubbing  and  clearing;  the  specifications 
generally  set  forth  that  a  stump  must  be  excavated  to  such  a  depth 
as  the  engineer  may  direct,  and  the  excavation  be  filled  with  such 
material  as  the  engineer  may  approve.  There  should  be  a  separate 
item  for  this  character  of  excavation.  The  amount  of  this  work  can- 
not be  determined  in  advance,  nor  can  the  individual  preference  of 
the  individual  engineer  be  known  to  all  the  bidders.  It  is  true,  how- 
ever, that  within  the  limits  of  the  most  exacting  the  cost  of  this  char- 
acter of  excavation  is  about  the  same,  shovelful  for  shovelful;  but 
it  is  very  different  from  the  general  excavation  of  the  road  in  prepara- 
tion for  the  road  metal,  and  as  it  may  vary  so  widely,  it  would  seem 
to  be  but  fair  to  the  contractor  to  have  this  in  a  separate  item. 

Then  as  to  the  material  of  backfill;  the  engineer  for  his  own  pro- 
tection and  comfort  should  accurately  describe  the  character  of 
material  he  will  require,  and  should  point  out  where  it  may  be  obtained 
unless  he  is  willing  to  take  the  material  from  the  excavation. 

It  would  be,  perhaps,  a  benefit  in  securing  proper  prices  and  avoid- 
ing discussion  later,  if  a  separate  item  were  made  for  the  excavation 
for  drains,  foundations  and  for  culverts.  In  some  instances  the 
specifications  call  for  a  separate  price  upon  this  and  this  is  particu- 


90  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

larly  important  where  it  is  left  to  the  engineer  to  determine  the  width 
and  depth  of  the  drains  as  the  work  progresses. 

In  the  matter  of  borrow;  appropriate  borrow  pits  should  be  located 
by  the  engineer  and  their  location  pointed  out  to  the  prospective 
bidders,  and  to  insure  fair  play  between  all  bidders,  the  royalties 
to  be  paid  should  be  negotiated  in  advance  and  the  costs  set  forth 
in  the  information  given. 

Rock  excavation  seems  fairly  treated,  but  the  information  to  bidders 
should  clearly  set  forth  whether  or  not  this  rock  may  be  used  in  the 
road  construction,  and  if  it  is  a  question  that  can  only  be  determined 
as  the  work  progresses,  then  there  should  be  two  prices;  one  when 
rock  from  the  excavation  may  be  used,  and  one  when  the  excavation 
rock  must  be  spoiled  and  the  road  metal  obtained  from  special  quarries. 

The  details  of  pipe  and  open  drains,  of  culverts  and  similar  items 
seem  to  be  sufficiently  treated. 

The  restrictions  as  to  the  character  of  labor  and  superintendence 
and  the  cleaning  up  after  completion  are,  in  every  case,  usual  and 
reasonable. 

There  is  one  element,  however,  that  ought  to  be  gone  into,  either 
as  a  separate  item  of  the  contract  setting  forth  just  what  the  limita- 
tions may  be  or  else  be  outlined  in  the  inf ormation  given  to  the  bidders 
namely,  that,  where  the  road  passes  through  communities  where  there 
is  control  by  special  legislation  or  ordinances,  that  the  terms  of  these 
ordinances,  or  at  least  their  existence,  be  pointed  out,  and  in  the  latter 
case,  the  contractor  be  informed  where  he  is  to  go  to  determine  what 
their  effect  may  be  upon  the  costs  of  his  work. 

In  none  of  the  contracts  is  there  any  provision  made  in  the  event 
of  delay  on  the  part  of  the  communities  in  the  sale  of  their  bonds,  or 
for  other  reasons  not  securing  the  funds  with  which  to  pay  the  con- 
tractor. 

The  only  consideration  given  the  contractor  by  the  contractee  is 
his  pay.  The  terms  of  the  pay  are  clearly  set  forth  and  the  times  at 
which  the  contractor  may  expect  it. 

It  is  only  fair  and  reasonable  that  if  there  is  any  delay  in  making 
payments  to  the  contractor  that  he  should  be  given  interest  from  and 
after  the  date  at  which  the  payments  are  made  due  by  the  contract. 

The  rate  of  interest  should  be  the  same  rate  of  interest  that  the 
community  pays  on  its  bonds  or  other  obligations  upon  which  the 
money  is  raised.  Then,  and  in  that  event,  the  contractor  may  hypothe- 
cate his  warrants  and  borrow  money  to  permit  him  to  continue. 


THE  CONTRACTOR  IN  ROAD  WORK  91 

As  an  alternative  to  this  suggestion,  but  a  disadvantageous  one  to 
the  contractor,  would  be  his  right  to  suspend  work  until  he  received  his 
pay,  in  which  case,  all  reasonable  costs  during  suspension  should  be 
estimated  to  him  by  the  engineer.  These  should  include  not  only 
the  actual  maintenance  cost  of  plant,  materials  and  watchman,  but 
the  cost  of  disorganization  and  re-organization.  If  these  cannot 
be  determined  by  actual  vouchers,  then  it  should  be  arranged  that 
they  may  be  agreed  upon,  possibly  by  arbitration. 

There  should  be  a  clause  covering  delays  due  to  failure  to  secure 
right-of-way  or  to  injunctions  imposed  through  no  fault  of  the  con- 
tractor, and  remuneration  should  be  arranged. 

In  road  building,  the  most  important  general  consideration  is  the 
sequence  of  the  work.  This  should  be  definitely  set  forth  in  a  clause 
of  the  specifications  or  in  the  information  to  bidders,  so  that  the  con- 
tractor may  properly  plant  his  job  and  properly  organize  it.  The 
ideal  arrangement  is  to  start  at  strategic  points  and  proceed  as  an 
army  marches,  one  process  following  the  other  at  the  right  interval 
of  distance  so  that  the  operations  may  be  kept  as  close  to  each  other 
as  possible  for  the  purpose  of  supervision  and  so  that  any  excess  or 
deficiency  of  materials  may  be  corrected  with  the  least  possible  trans- 
portation cost. 

Any  interruption  or  modification  of  the  sequence  of  the  work  not 
in  accord  with  this  ideal  procedure  should  be  pointed  out  in  advance 
or  a  clause  should  be  drawn  that  will  give  the  contractor  a  reasonable 
return,  perhaps  in  cost  only,  without  profit,  for  unexpected  interrup- 
tions either  in  time  or  sequence. 

The  contractor  should  not  be  made  subject  to  the  individual  prefer- 
ence, and  one  may  perhaps  say  fancy,  of  the  directing  engineer  or 
some  irascible  property  holder  along  the  route,  without  facilities 
for  his  proper  safe-guarding  in  unusual  costs. 

With  regard  to  maintainance;  ought  not  the  terms  of  this  require- 
ment to  be  adjusted  relatively  to  the  nature  and  amount  of  traffic 
developed;  that  can  not  be  measured  in  advance.  Often  the  very 
existence  of  the  road  creates  unexpected  conditions.  The  contractor 
should  be  paid  in  proportion  to  the  cost. 

It  would  seem  valuable  also,  to  incorporate  a  clause  which  per- 
mitted substitutions  to  be  made,  if,  during  the  progress  of  the  work 
this  were  found  to  be  of  value. 

If  something  different  from  that  set  forth  in  the  specifications  is 
substituted  in  the  way  of  materials,  the  owner  should  naturally  have 


92  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

the  benefit.  If  there  is  a  reduction  in  the  cost  of  transportation  or 
otherwise  due  to  the  ingenuity  of  the  contractor,  it  should  go  to 
him,  and  in  this  way  again,  the  mutuality  of  the  contract  would  be 
fulfilled. 

It  may  be  said  that  the  suggestions  have  been  made  are  visionary 
and,  to  say  the  least,  Utopian.  The  best  defense  of  them,  however, 
may  be  seen  in  the  specifications  that  have  recently  been  drawn  for 
the  carrying  out  of  one  of  the  two  or  three  most  important  enterprises 
now  under  construction. 

The  information  to  the  bidders  in  these  contracts  covers  every 
item  recommended  in  this  paper,  and  goes  into  a  greater  refinement 
of  detail,  because  of  the  greater  diversity  of  the  work  involved.  It 
calls  attention  to  the  character  of  the  work  that  will  be  demanded, 
points  out  the  necessity  for  rigid  inspection,  and  great  care  in  execu- 
tion. It  goes  into  the  utmost  detail  as  to  the  character  of  the  rock  and 
earth  to  be  encountered  in  excavation  as  determined  by  explorations 
made  by  the  engineers,  and  to  work  of  a  similar  character  that  has 
been  done  in  the  same  localities.  Information  was  even  given  as  to 
the  character  of  weather  prevalent  at  the  various  seasons  of  the  year 
in  the  various  localities. 

The  plans  are  drawn  after  lengthy,  exhaustive  consultations  with 
contractors  experienced  in  the  same  character  of  work,  and  having 
determined  the  capacity  desired,  the  cross-sections  are  those  that  may 
be  obtained  with  the  least  expenditure  of  effort  and  money,  and  the 
greatest  saving  in  time. 

The  specifications  are  accurate  and  descriptive;  different  characters 
of  work  are  broken  up  into  items  that  make  it  possible  to  figure 
clearly  the  costs,  regardless  of  the  conditions  met. 

The  spirit  exhibited  by  these  specifications  is  an  example  to  all 
who  draw  them,  and  it  is  a  spirit  that  may  be  applied  to  any  character 
of  work,  no  matter  how  elementary. 

The  items  in  the  bid  are  so  numerous  and  analyzed  into  such  figur- 
able  elements  that  it  is  practically  not  to  be  considered  that  any 
emergency  may  arise  that  may  not  be  covered  fairly  and  appropri- 
ately by  some  item  or  combination  of  items  in  the  contract,  and  the 
theory  upon  which  quantities  were  estimated  is  fully  described. 

There  is  nothing  in  which  the  engineer  should  be  more  careful  than 
in  publishing  the  estimated  quantities.  It  is  the  practice  of  most 
modern  concerns  when  bidding  upon  important  contracts  to  check 
the  quantities  accurately,  but  the  engineer  has  more  information, 


THE  CONTKACTOR  IN  ROAD  WORK  93 

and  it  is  unfair  to  the  contractor  if  he  does  not  make  his  estimates 
accurately  and  publish  the  facts. 

What  has  been  the  result  of  the  fairness  of  these  aforementioned 
specifications?  The  very  best  and  most  substantial  contractors  in 
the  country  have  been  competitors  for  the  work,  and  the  bidding  has 
been  so  close  as  to  justify  the  belief  that  the  element  of  fortuity  has 
been  largely  eliminated. 

I  would  like  to  say  something  about  bonds  and  bonding,  about 
bids  and  unbalancing  them,  but  my  time  is  long  ago  exhausted. 

To  close,  I  would  urge  upon  the  engineers  to  draw  their  specifi- 
cations so  that  they  are  fair  and  reasonable,  to  always  assume  the 
attitude  of  a  non-partisan  when  arbitrating  those  clauses  where  they 
make  themselves  the  final  court  of  appeal.  To  try  to  consider  that 
the  contractor  is  an  honest  man,  and  to  work  with  him  on  that  basis 
until  he  proves  himself  otherwise. 

It  may  be  hard  for  an  engineer  who  has  drawn  a  specification  and 
who  knows  in  his  own  mind  what  he  intended  the  specification  to 
mean,  to  accept  or  even  consider  the  point  of  view  of  the  contractor 
who  reads  the  same  clauses  from  a  different  point  of  view,  arriving 
at  a  different  interpretation.  In  such  a  case,  the  contractor's  and 
the  contractee's  minds  have  not  met  and  the  engineer,  not  being  able 
to  divorce  himself  from  his  point  of  view,  should  be  readily  willing 
to  present  his  interpretation  and  let  the  contractor  present  his  to 
an  open  minded  arbitrator. 

Perhaps  an  arbitration  clause  in  every  contract  would  eliminate 
most  of  the  trouble  and  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  I  favor  the  sug- 
gestion so  often  made  that  the  Courts  of  every  State  should  have  a 
special  branch  that  might  be  called  a  Contractors'  Court  of  Arbitra- 
tion; and  that  this  should  be  in  a  way,  a  Court  of  Appeals  to  which 
access  might  be  had  throughout  the  work,  and  to  which  the  engineer 
and  contractor  might  go  hand  in  hand  and  not  one  drag  the  other. 

The  judges  appointed  to  sit  on  such  a  bench  should  be  in  the  pro- 
portion of  two  widely  experienced  engineers  who  have  advanced  to 
that  time  of  life  when  they  can  look  at  things  rationally,  and  one 
lawyer  chosen  not  for  his  profound  respect  for  the  written  instrument, 
but  for  his  good  sense  of  proportion,  for  the  broad  equities  in  the 
contract,  and  may  they  all  be  inspired  by  the  conviction  that  the  con- 
tractor should  have  a  dollar  for  a  dollar's  worth  of  work. 

Thank  you,  Gentlemen  and  Mr.  Chairman. 


94  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

CHAIRMAN  PARKER:  I  have  learned  that  General  du  Pont  has  left; 
he  was  appointed  as  chairman  of  the  committee  on  resolutions,  and 
I  therefore  name  Mr.  Leonard  Tufts  as  chairman  of  that  committee. 

Gentlemen,  you  have  heard  two  exceedingly  interesting  and  able 
papers,  and  I  am  going  to  ask  several  gentlemen  in  the  hall  to  take 
up  the  discussion  of  those  papers.  The  first  one  I  shall  call  upon  is 
Mr.  Compton,  chairman  of  the  paving  commission  of  Baltimore. 

MR.  R.  K.  COMPTON:  Mr.  Chairman,  and  Gentlemen,  of  the  Amer- 
ican Road  Congress,  I  did  not  come  to  Richmond  to  make  a  speech, 
but  in  view  of  the  fact  that  your  chairman  has  honored  me  I  should 
at  least  have  a  few  words  to  say.  I  am  not  in  a  position  to  discuss 
State  highway  construction  with  you  very  much,  nor  am  I  in  a  position 
to  discuss  the  very  excellent  paper  which  has  just  been  read,  but  I 
am  in  a  position  to  discuss  a  matter  in  which  all  of  us  are  vitally 
interested,  a  proposition  which  is  very  dear  to  the  city  where  I  belong, 
the  Monumental  City,  a  city  noted  for  its  good-looking  women,  its 
hospitality,  its  good  things  to  eat,  and  also  noted  for  its  numerous 
cobblestone  streets  and  poor  streets. 

On  February  9,  1904,  the  people  of  Baltimore  awoke  to  find  that 
its  entire  business  section  had  been  wiped  away  by  a  disastrous  fire. 
We  are  proud  of  the  fact  that  since  that  fire  we  have  widened  our 
streets;  we  have  spent  many  million  dollars  for  public  improvements, 
that  we  have  spent  upwards  of  $19,000,000  in  putting  down  new  pave- 
ments, in  constructing  one  of  the  finest  sewerage  systems  of  the  country, 
in  building  a  most  magnificent  system  of  docks.  In  addition  to  the 
$19,000,000,  we  propose  to  spend  $28,500,000,  additional;  we  propose 
to  spend  $5,000,000  additional  in  improving  our  dock  systems,  $10,- 
000,000  additional  on  our  sewerage  system,  $1,000,000  on  our  park 
system  and  $7,500,000  in  getting  rid  of  our  cobble  stones,  which  aggre- 
gate 300  miles  of  streets,  and  laying  and  grading  5,000,000  square 
yards. 

The  improvement  of  our  city  highways  means  much  to  our  farmers 
and  automobilists;  they  do  not  get  the  full  benefit  of  the  improved 
highways  unless  they  can  come  into  our  cities  and  go  on  good  streets 
from  the  boundry  line  to  the  market  place,  where  they  desire  to  deliver 
their  goods.  In  Baltimore  we  propose  to  meet  the  farmer  at  the  county 
line  and  let  him  reach  any  portion  of  the  city  he  sees  fit.  We  propose 
to  spend  this  $7,500,000  on  our  streets,  and  when  we  get  through 
it  will  be  a  $12,000,000  proposition. 


THE  CONTRACTOR  IN  ROAD  WORK  95 

I  do  not  know  that  I  can  say  anything  more  except  what  we  are  up 
against  in  Baltimore,  and  how  we  are  cooperating  with  the  State 
authorities.  Major  Crosby  can  tell  you  about  the  State  work,  and 
we  are  cooperating  with  him  so  that  when  the  farmers  come  to  the 
city  line,  they  can  get  into  any  section  of  the  city  that  they  see  fit. 

CHAIRMAN  PARKER:  I  am  going  to  call  on  Mr.  Rourke,  of  Boston. 
I  would  like  to  say  that  he  has  spent  many  years  on  the  Isthmus, 
and  he  is  now  in  charge  of  all  the  technical  part  of  the  administration 
of  the  city  of  Boston,  and  I  want  to  say  further  that  both  the  Demo- 
crats and  Republicans  unite  in  applauding  the  work  he  has  done. 

MR.  L.  K.  ROURKE  There  is  certainly  nothing  I  can  add  to  the 
very  exhaustive  papers  which  Messrs.  Bates  and  Hough  have  just 
delivered.  I  might  emphasize  one  or  two  points,  however,  that  they 
touched  on,  namely,  that  the  matter  of  road  making  is  an  engineering 
proposition  and  requires  an  engineering  solution,  and  that  any  Tom, 
Dick  or  Harry  you  can  appoint  in  charge  of  building  highways  for 
personal  or  political  preference,  is  not  usually  going  to  make  a 
success  of  it;  furthermore,  that  the  engineer  in  charge  of  that  work 
should  not  only  be  an  engineer,  but  an  engineer  of  experience,  and  he 
should  realize,  and  being  an  engineer  of  experience  he  will  realize 
that  he  is  not  so  much  a  dictator  to  the  contractor  as  he  is  an  arbitra- 
tor between  the  contractor  and  the  contractee.  Those  two  points 
were  very  ably  discussed,  but  I  simply  want  to  emphasize  them. 

Another  point  that  was  touched  on  by  Mr.  Bates  was  the  matter 
of  doing  the  work  by  day  labor  or  contract.  I  am  right  at  home  on 
that.  I  have  been  on  both  sides  of  the  fence.  The  day  work  in  the 
city  of  Boston  costs  about  35  per  cent  more  than  contract.  There 
are  reasons  for  this,  and  they  are  not  all  graft  or  inefficiency,  either. 
A  great  many  people  are  inclined  to  say,  when  you  ask  why  it  is  that 
municipal,  State  or  national  work  is  not  as  efficient  as  private  work, 
"Oh,  it  is  a  matter  of  graft."  That  is  not  so  at  all.  I  have  about 
4000  men  every  one  of  whom  are  civil  service  employees,  and  those 
men  must  be  retained  on  the  pay-roll,  and  not  be  discharged  except 
after  a  public  hearing  on  proper  charges  preferred  against  those  men 
and  proven.  The  result  of  that  is  that  men  stay  on  the  roll  and  become 
inefficient  through  old  age,  and  the  municipality  or  the  State,  or  the 
nation,  as  a  rule,  does  not  demand  the  discharge  of  a  faithful  servant 
who  has  grown  old  in  the  service,  that  is  nothing  more  than  common 
decency  and  humanity.  But,  nevertheless,  if  the  municipal  service 


96  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

has  to  do  the  work  with  that  sort  of  men,  you  have  got  to  stand  the 
consequence  of  high  cost.  Another  thing ;  the  legislature  of  Massachu- 
setts accords  to  public  servants  certain  privileges  which  put  me  under 
a  12  per  cent  handicap  over  a  contractor  to  start  with,  in  the  way  of 
fixing  the  minimum  wage  at  $2.25  a  day  for  eight  hours;  furthermore, 
they  grant  the  Saturday  half  holiday  and  all  other  holidays  at  full 
pay,  and  thirty  days  sick  leave  a  year;  all  of  which  amounts  to  a  12 
per  cent  handicap  as  compared  with  the  contractor.  For  these  reasons 
alone,  which  are  legitimate  reasons,  it  will  be  to  the  advantage  of 
taxpayers  who  have  to  pay  for  public  work,  to  have  that  work  done  by 
contractor  under  the  supervision  of  an  experienced  engineer,  who  will 
not  call  for  a  five  or  ten  year  guarantee  of  a  road  to  save  himself  the 
trouble  of  proper  supervision  and  proper  specifications.  That  guar- 
antee system,  which  has  also  been  touched  on  today,  is  simply  foster- 
ing carelessness,  looseness,  and  inefficiency  among  engineers.  Any 
engineer  who  knows  his  business  can  get  out  specifications  that  will 
not  require  a  five  or  a  ten  year  guarantee  from  a  contractor;  and  when 
you  get  a  five  or  a  ten  year  guarantee  from  the  contractor,  you  are 
paying  for  it,  don't  you  forget  that. 

There  is  another  point  that  has  come  up  today,  which  almost  every 
speaker  has  recognized  ,and  yet  it  is  over  looked  by  almost  everybody, 
and  that  is,  the  maintenance  of  roads.  Every  speaker  here  today 
without  exception  has  talked  about  the  importance  of  maintenance. 
I  come  from  a  State  that  was  the  pioneer  in  building  State  highways; 
Massachusetts  is  practically  covered  with  State  highways;  it  is  no 
longer  a  problem  with  us  to  construct  them,  we  build  them  by  the 
mile,  but  the  problem  today  with  us  is  the  proper  maintenance  of 
them.  You  have  heard  a  great  deal  about  the  French  and  English 
roads,  how  superior  they  are  to  the  American  roads.  One  reason 
for  that  is  that  over  there  when  they  see  a  hole  starting  in  a  road, 
they  immediately  get  busy  and  patch  the  hole  at  once.  The  gentle- 
men from  Pennsylvania,  Colonel  Bigelow,  has  a  very  fine  scheme 
which  he  outlined  to  us,  and  if  he  does  not  put  it  into  effect  he  is 
going  to  make  a  failure  of  his  roads.  As  I  remember,  he  is  going  to 
have  fifty  division  superintendents  and  he  is  going  to  have  a  patrol 
system.  There  must  be  a  patrol  system,  the  road  must  be  handled 
like  a  railroad  handles  its  track,  and  in  no  other  way  will  it  be  a  success. 

There  is  another  thing  that  occurs  to  me  in  connection  with  Boston, 
for  instance.  The  other  day  the  Boston  council  passed  an  old-age 
pension  ordinance,  and  on  the  first  of  March  it  goes  into  effect, 


THE  CONTRACTOR  IN  ROAD  WORK  97 

whereby  all  laborers  of  the  city  who  have  reached  the  age  of  seventy 
years  and  have  had  twenty-five  years  service  are  retired  on  half  pay. 
That  affects  two  hundred  of  my  men,  so  you  may  imagine  what  material 
I  have  to  work  with  when  two  hundred  men  out  of  one  department 
come  under  that  rule  with  twenty-five  years  of  service.  It  strikes 
me  that  these  old  men  are  just  the  ones  for  that  patrol  work.  They 
are  fond  of  pottering,  like  all  old  men;  they  have  done  that  kind  of 
work  all  of  their  lives,  and  that  is  what  we  want  on  our  roads.  How 
much  better  it  would  be  to  take  these  old  men  of  the  city  or  State 
service  and  put  them  on  that  work.  If  we  don't  take  care  of  them  in 
our  department,  there  is  one  department  that  will  have  to  take  care 
of  them,  the  poor  department.  What  a  fine  scheme  it  would  be  to 
divide  up  the  city  highways  and  the  State  highways  into  sections, 
each  section  corresponding  to  the  physical  ability  of  the  man  you  put 
on  there,  and  you  need  not  watch  him;  you  can  say,  "  There  is  your 
strip  of  road,  you  are  to  take  care  of  it. "  Instruct  him  what  to  do 
and  appeal  to  his  pride  and  go  off  and  leave  him.  That  is  one  solu- 
tion of  the  old  age  question.  Down  here  in  the  South  they  have  that 
question,  but  not  to  the  extent  we  have  it  in  the  crowded  North, 
and  the  very  fact  that  Boston  is  pensioning  her  aged  laborers  has 
brought  it  to  attention,  and  something  must  be  done.  If  we  can 
have  our  streets  maintained  as  they  should  be  maintained,  and  take 
care  of  the  old  men  at  the  same  time,  it  will  certainly  be  an  ideal  solu- 
tion; and  it  is  practical,  because  I  have  tried  it  to  some  extent,  and 
it  works. 

CHAIRMAN  PARKER:    I  think  you  will  agree  with  me  that  Mr. 
Rourke,  as  far  as  we  can  tell  from  what  he  says,  is  a  pretty  good  man. 

MR.  GILBERT:    I  read  that  in  Massachusetts  the  maintenance  of 
turnpike  road  costs  $65  a  mile  per  year. 

MR.  ROURKE:    Mr.  Parker  can  tell  you  about  that  better  than 
I  can. 

CHAIRMAN  PARKER:    Sixty-five  dollars  a  year? 

MR.  GILBERT:    Yes,  I  saw  it  in  some  papers  some  time  ago. 

CHAIRMAN  PARKER:     I  am  glad  to  hear  it,  but  it  does  not  agree 
with  my  figures.     It  costs  us  something  over  $500  a  year. 


98  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

MR.  GILBERT:    I  do  not  mean  building,  I  mean  maintenance. 

CHAIRMAN  PARKER:  That  is  maintenance.  That  is  for  all  State 
roads.  Before  there  were  any  automobiles,  and  when  our  roads  were 
new,  $65  would  cover  them  easily;  $50  would  cover  the  maintenance 
cost.  But  the  automobile  has  created  different  conditions,  and 
$500  is  more  than  it  should  cost,  that  is,  restoring  roads  that  are  worn 
out  by  automobiles.  Our  method  now  of  taking  care  of  the  roads  is 
by  the  use  of  bituminous  material  on  the  surface.  This  has  not  recon- 
structed them,  but  has  stopped  their  disintegration  and  saves  their 
life.  That  is  now  under  other  administration  than  mine.  I  am  no 
longer  highway  commissioner.  I  am  going  to  ask  Mr.  Roberts  to 
discuss  this  matter. 

MR.  W.  J.  ROBERTS:  I  feel  that  this  is  a  rich  experience.  I  spent 
most  of  last  week  in  Rochester,  and  I  am  going  to  spend  most  of  this 
week  in  Richmond.  This  is  my  first  trip  to  the  South  and  I  want  to 
say  that  the  hospitality  here  in  the  last  twenty-four  hours  has  been 
appreciated  by  your  guests.  It  is  a  good  thing  for  a  man  who 
comes  from  the  west  to  touch  elbows  with  men  from  populous  New 
England,  such  men  as  Mr.  Rourke,  of  Boston,  Professor  Blanchard,  of 
New  York  City,  and  it  may  be  invidious  to  mention  the  names  of 
the  gentlemen  that  I  have  been  drawing  inspiration  from;  but  to 
touch  elbows  with  men  from  Michigan  and  Minnesota  and  all  of 
these  States,  Virginia  not  excepted,  is  a  good  thing  for  us  who  come 
from  the  far  distant  west.  The  State  of  Washington,  which  I  repre- 
sent, is  a  State  of  remarkable  topography.  It  has  one-fourth  of  its 
area  set  aside  by  the  federal  government  for  a  forest  reserve.  The 
conditions  there  in  road  building  are  almost  novel.  To  get  to  the 
county  seats  and  the  State  capital  requires  us  to  cross  the  forest 
reserve.  There  is  no  reason  why  the  government  should  not  build 
highways  through  the  reserve,  and  it  is  building  a  small  portion  in 
Rainier  National  Park,  but  it  is  slow. 

We  have  a  drainage  problem;  we  have  an  area  as  large  as  Massa- 
chusetts on  which  there  is  only  7  inches  rainfall  annually;  and  we  have 
another  area  as  large  as  Massachusetts  which  has  100  inches  of  rain- 
fall annually.  But  let  me  say  that  the  problems  of  hydraulics, 
physics,  the  laws  of  cohesion  and  adhesion  are  about  the  same  in  the 
State  of  Washington  as  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  and  the  young  engineer 
educated  in  Boston,  or  New  York,  or  Chicago,  or  Virginia,  or  Alabama, 


THE  CONTRACTOR  IN  ROAD  WORK  99 

is  qualified  to  deal  with  those  conditions  just  as  well  in  the  State  of 
Washington,  or  Oregon,  or  California,  as  on  the  Atlantic  coast. 

We  have  a  State  aid  law,  and  $950,000  will  be  available  for  the 
year  1912;  together  with  this,  there  is  something  left  over  from  1911, 
several  hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  this  is  being  expended  on  per- 
manent highways. 

When  I  heard  the  question  asked  what  it  cost  annually  to  maintain 
good  roads,  I  referred  to  the  lecture  given  at  Rochester,  in  which  the 
lecturer  pointed  out  the  advantage  of  the  use  of  the  split-log  drag, 
costing  $8  a  day,  covering  8  miles.  We  build  roads  out  of  straw  in 
Washington;  we  build  roads  out  of  sage  brush;  I  rode  over  one  of  those 
roads  last  week  with  an  automobilist  and  he  said  "Why  didn't  you 
do  this  earlier  in  the  year?  "  The  trouble  was  that  there  was  jealousy 
among  the  farmers,  each  was  afraid  he  would  help  the  other  fellow; 
but  I  am  glad  to  say  that  they  are  cooperating  more  than  ever  before. 
We  also  have  miles  and  miles  of  corduroy  road,  water-bound  macadam 
and  various  mixtures,  and  now  we  are  going  into  the  higher  types 
that  we  have  been  told  about  in  these  two  conventions,  in  the  last 
two  weeks.  I  might  say  that  we  are  building  a  type  of  road  costing 
$10,000  a  mile  for  bridges  and  culverts  and  right  of  way,  and  putting 
on  a  surface  costing  $15,000  a  mile  in  addition,  making  the  road  cost 
us  $25,000  a  mile.  I  listened  with  wonder  to  a  man  that  said  that 
we  could  not  afford  it.  This  road  is  by  the  farm  of  my  friend  Terrace. 
We  are  using  convicts  on  the  road;  we  have  five  quarries  to  operate 
and  we  are  using  150  convicts,  and  we  are  going  to  use  more  as  soon 
as  other  quarries  are  ready.  Those  convicts  are  treated  like  human 
beings.  I  was  talking  to  one  of  the  convicts  about  their  treatment; 
I  said,  "I  have  seen  you  before,  where  did  I  see  you?"  He  said  he 
was  with  me  years  ago,  and  he  named  the  place;  his  brother  was 
with  me  now.  I  asked  him  what  was  the  trouble,  and  he  said  "I 
cashed  a  forged  check  for  a  man,  as  man  to  man,  and  when  I  tried 
to  cash  it,  I  found  it  was  a  forged  check;  the  prosecutor  told  me  to 
plead  guilty,  and  I  did  ,  and  I  am  here  for  two  to  five  years. "  He 
is  a  fellow  that  I  would  not  hesitate  to  take  a  hunting  trip  with  through 
the  mountains  and  sleep  and  eat  with  him  as  I  would  with  you.  I 
have  never  had  this  work  to  do  before  and  it  is  an  entirely  new  prob- 
lem to  me.  I  might  say  that  the  government  of  the  convicts  is 
vested  in  the  prison  board,  and  I  have  nothing  to  do  with  that.  We 
treat  them  well.  We  had  fifty  men  of  whom  forty  were  convicts,  and 
we  gave  them  1500  pounds  of  flour,  the  best  we  could  buy,  1500 


102  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

this  federal  government  of  ours  to  make  national  highways  and  we 
took  our  coats  off  and  we  went  to  work  and  we  are  getting  results. 

I  took  notice  yesterday  that  your  senator  from  this  State  and  your 
governor  from  this  State  and  all  the  eloquent  men  of  Virginia,  said 
that  Virginia  was  the  first  in  everything.  I  am  sorry  to  think  that 
Virginia  lags  behind  when  it  comes  to  this  great  road  movement. 
The  first  congress  that  was  ever  held  in  the  United  States  on  this 
great  road  movement,  was  held  in  Seattle,  and  there  is  a  building 
there  today  devoted  to  this  good  road  movement.  You  talk  about 
your  advance  guards;  I  want  to  say  that  that  little  State  that  is  on 
the  Pacific  Coast  is  the  star  in  this  movement  today. 

Now  we  have  heard  a  great  deal  about  the  construction  of  these 
highways,  let  us  hear  a  little  about  the  benefits  of  these  highways. 
Mr.  Chairman,  I  am  a  farmer,  a  dairy  farmer,  and  as  I  have  to  use 
those  roads  365  days  in  a  year,  it  is  me  that  knows  something  as  to 
the  benefits  of  good  roads  (applause).  I  raise  other  truck  besides 
milk;  one  year  I  raised  seventy-five  tons  of  cabbage;  I  had  to  haul 
that  cabbage  to  a  sauer-krout  factory  in  Seattle,  and  2500  weight 
was  the  best  I  could  do  with  two  horses,  that  weighed  1700  pounds 
each  and  2500  pounds  was  the  best  I  could  do.  I  left  my  home  at 
6  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  returned  home  at  6  o'clock  at  night, 
a  tired  team  and  tired  man,  and  allowing  myself  $5  a  day  for  myself 
and  my  team,  which  was  little  enough,  it  cost  me  $5  to  land  my  2500 
pounds  of  cabbage  hi  market.  What  is  the  result?  You  heard  our 
State  highway  commissioner  tell  you  about  this  good  road  that 
passes  my  farm.  The  result  is  that  today  I  put  my  three  tons  on  the 
same  wagon  with  the  same  team,  but  they  are  a  little  older;  I  leave 
two  hours  later  and  I  get  back  without  a  strain  on  my  horses,  and  it 
is  a  pleasure  to  drive  over  the  road.  Now  it  is  for  you  to  see  what  this 
thing  means  to  me.  If  it  took  $5.00  to  get  that  2500  pounds  of  cab- 
bage to  market,  and  I  can  now  get  3  tons  in  for  less,  it  is  easy  to 
see  what  that  means  to  me;  3  tons  of  cabbage  means  nearly  $150. 

Now  I  heard  that  the  railroads  have  decreased  their  prices  for 
freight,  that  they  are  hauling  freight  for  less  than  they  used  to  do 
and  that  it  is  costing  more  for  the  farmer  to  get  his  freight  in  than 
it  used  to  do.  I  want  to  tell  you  right  here,  and  if  there  are  any  farmers 
present,  I  want  them  to  take  notice  of  what  I  am  going  to  say;  that 
if  we  get  good  roads  we  can  beat  the  railroads,  we  can  take  our  freight 
to  the  market  under  certain  conditions  cheaper  then  they  can,  and 
I  can  illustrate  it  to  you.  I  told  you  before  that  I  was  a  dairyman; 


THE  CONTRACTOR  IN  ROAD  WORK  103 

it  cost  us  farmers  1  cent  a  gallon  to  take  our  milk  into  Seattle;  that 
meant  they  took  our  milk  in  and  brought  the  empty  can  back;  for 
that  we  paid  the  railroad  1  cent  a  gallon,  and  we  had  to  hitch  our 
team  up  in  the  morning  and  take  our  milk  from  the  farm  to  the  rail- 
road station;  some  of  those  farmers  had  to  travel  3  miles,  2  miles, 
1  mile,  down  to  the  railroad;  but  we  all  had  to  hitch  up.  Since  we 
have  got  that  road,  we  have  put  on  large  automobile  trucks,  double- 
deckers;  they  come  right  there  to  your  barn,  they  take  your  milk, 
fetch  your  empty  cans  back  to  the  barn,  and  we  pay  \  cent  a  gallon 
(applause) . 

Mr.  Chairman,  what  does  that  mean  to  us?  I  mean  to  say  that 
there  are  17,000  cows  in  our  valley,  and  I  mean  to  say  that  what  we 
save  on  the  milk  alone  in  one  year  will  pay  pretty  nearly  for  the  whole 
cost  of  that  road  (applause).  It  is  a  business  proposition;  it  is  the 
best  paying  investment  that  is  on  my  farm  (applause).  And,  Mr. 
Chairman,  a  good  road  is  like  a  good  restaurant,  it  does  its  own 
advertising.  If  you  got  a  good  meal  in  a  restaurant,  you  can  depend 
you  can  go  back  again,  and  you  will  take  you  neighbor. 

The  great  trouble  is  that  the  most  of  our  farmers  do  not  know 
what  a  good  road  is  (applause). 

Now  I  am  a  Granger;  I  attended  that  convention  in  Columbus, 
Ohio;  I  came  from  there  right  here.  I  speak  for  our  great  Grand 
Master  in  Rochester,  and  I  mean  to  say  that  there  are  a  million  mem- 
bers in  connection  with  that  great  organization  of  farmers,  but  they 
do  not  know  what  a  good  road  means,  the  great  rank  and  file  of  that 
organization.  These  very  men,  my  neighbors — I  stood  there  alone, 
single  handed,  fighting  day  in  and  day  out  to  improve  our  public 
highways,  but  they  were  all  against  me;  and  today  they  have  turned 
around  and  say,  "What  fools  we  were."  You  can't  get  those  men 
to  go  back  into  those  old  ruts  and  those  old  mud-holes  for  half  the 
price  of  their  farms. 

As  our  State  highway  commissioner  said  here,  we  have  roads  costing 
us  $25,000  a  mile.  This  great  national  highway  we  will  turn  over  to 
you;  we  do  not  begrudge  the  money;  we  think  it  is  the  best  invest- 
ment we  could  have  made. 

Now  when  it  comes  down  to  this  convict  labor,  I  mean  to  say  that 
is  another  good  proposition,  because  you  know  I  have  been  one  of 
those  men  who  have  taken  their  coats  off  to  fight  for  all  of  these  things, 
so  I  am  familiar  in  my  own  humble  way  with  everything  we  have 
gone  through.  We  have  had  our  ups  and  we  have  had  our  downs; 


104  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

but  we  have  always  forged  ahead.  I  remember  well  when  this  con- 
vict labor  was  first  broached  by  a  little  handful  of  men,  not  exceeding 
twenty  men,  all  we  could  get  together  in  that  stage,  and  we  fetched 
the  matter  up  about  working  convicts  on  the  public  highways.  As 
you  know,  our  State  is  a  wonderful  State;  she  is  divided  clear  in  two; 
there  is  a  range  of  mountains  called  the  Cascade  Mountains  running 
north  and  south,  and  towering  up  about  14,400  feet.  On  one  side  of 
that  great  range  it  never  rains,  but  they  have  lots  of  snow.  On  the 
western  side  of  that  slope  there  is  nothing  but  rain;  it  rains  there  some- 
times continually  for  six  weeks  or  two  months  and  never  lets  up,  so 
you  see  we  have  lots  of  water  there;  but  the  country  on  the  east  side 
is  a  hard  country  to  get  into;  there  you  find  little  valleys  isolated  from 
the  rest  of  the  world,  and  the  men  and  women  in  those  little  valleys 
for  six  months  out  of  the  twelve  had  might  as  well  be  in  the  peniten- 
tiary, they  were  shut  in  fast  with  no  communication  with  the  outside 
world,  and  is  it  any  wonder  that  the  young  men  and  women  are  flock- 
ing to  the  towns?  They  will  not  put  up  with  such  as  that,  you  can't 
expect  them  to,  and  they  won't  do  it.  Once  they  visit  your  cities  and 
see  the  beautiful  lighted  sidewalks,  your  entertainments  all  the  young 
men  and  women  going  about  well  dressed,  how  can  you  expect  these 
young  men  and  women  to  stay  there  three,  four,  or  six  months  in 
the  year,  cut  off  from  the  world?  That  is  the  situation,  but  we  have 
done  better  than  that.  These  people  were  not  able  to  make  roads 
through  those  mountain  passes  where  there  was  nothing  but  rock  work 
to  be  done.  We  advocated  that,  we  talked  and  talked,  and  finally 
we  got  the  convicts  and  cut  roads  through  those  passes  to  save  those 
people  from  going  over  the  tops  of  the  mountains.  There  were  per- 
pendicular cliffs  running  up  twelve  and  fifteen  hundred  feet  high; 
we  got  the  convicts  to  go  in  there  and  shoot  those  rocks  out,  blast 
them  out,  and  give  these  people  an  outlet.  It  has  been  a  success. 
We  have  just  begun,  and  we  are  going  to  continue,  and  if  we  have  done 
that  you  can  do  something.  There  is  no  State  in  this  Union  but  what 
its  penitentiary  is  filled  full  of  men,  and  you  can't  put  them  to  any 
work  that  will  do  as  much  good  as  on  the  public  highways  (applause). 
That  is  where  every  man,  every  woman  and  every  child  will  get  the 
benefit  of  their  work.  The  Grange  that  I  belong  to  sent  me  down  there 
to  that  convict  camp  to  see  how  they  were  treating  those  people, 
and  I  had  to  make  a  report.  I  saw  the  food  they  had  to  eat  and  it 
was  just  as  good  as  any  man  wants  to  eat.  I  spoke  to  them  and  asked 
them  whether  they  had  rather  be  on  the  road  or  in  the  penitentiary, 


THE  CONTKACTOR  IN  ROAD  WORK  105 

and  they  assured  me  that  they  had  rather  be  on  the  road,  as  they  had 
the  pure  mountain  air,  and  could  see  the  steamships  running  up  and 
down  on  the  Columbia  River,  and  moreover  they  were  learning  how 
to  work,  which  none  of  them  knew  before.  It  was  healthy  for  them 
it  was  good  for  them,  and  it  was  good  for  us  (applause). 

Now,  Mr.  Chairman,  there  was  another  thing  that  struck  me 
yesterday.  We  want  to  reach  the  farmers.  You  can  meet  here 
every  week  if  you  have  a  mind  to,  you  can  discuss  the  merits  of  road- 
building  every  day;  but  if  there  is  no  demand  for  your  work,  it  will 
amount  to  nothing.  The  farmers  are  the  men  to  demand  your  work. 
You  are  the  men  who  have  got  to  construct  the  roads,  but  that  won't 
get  the  farmers  interested  in  wanting  roads  so  they  will  pay  you  fel- 
lows for  doing  the  work.  I  was  interested  in  a  picture  I  saw  last  night, 
and  I  think  it  would  be  good  policy  on  the  part  of  the  United  States 
government,  or  the  bureau,  to  send  men  through  the  country,  through 
the  farming  districts  away  back,  and  show  those  lantern  slides  and 
get  them  interested;  show  them  the  beauties  of  these  roads,  show  them 
the  folly  of  these  old  roads  and  the  pictures  of  the  buggies  stuck  in 
the  mud  clear  up  to  the  hubs  of  the  wheel;  get  them  thinking,  and  once 
they  begin  to  realize  you  will  have  to  manufacture  engineers  by 
wholesale  to  keep  up  (laughter  and  applause). 

Now,  Mr.  Chairman,  I  have  kept  you  about  long  enough,  but  I 
am  representing  the  State  of  Washington  here,  I  am  the  delegate 
to  this  convention,  and  I  want  to  see  a  free  discussion  here.  I  want 
to  see  our  national  government  do  something  (applause).  We  have 
been  meeting  long  enough  now  and  doing  nothing.  We  have  got 
an  immense  forest  reserve,  which  our  highway  commissioner  told 
you  about,  and  immense  tracts  of  timber,  the  finest  timber  in  the  world, 
trees  running  up  200  feet  to  the  first  limb,  running  from  6  to  8  feet  in 
diameter  at  the  butt.  Timber  is  getting  valuable;  our  government 
is  selling  this  timber,  as  long  as  this  timber  belongs  to  all  the  people, 
why  not  take  the  proceeds  of  that  timber  and  let  us  put  it  in  public 
highways?  That  money  will  be  squandered  and  wasted  in  battle- 
ships, in  one  nonsense  and  the  other  (cheers  and  applause) .  Why 
should  we  not,  as  farmers  and  men  interested  in  this  great  movement, 
claim  our  share  of  it  before  it  is  all  gone?  (applause). 

Now,  Mr.  Chairman,  I  am  about  through.  I  hope  before  I  go 
home  I  may  hear  something  here  that  I  can  take  back  to  that  grand 
young  State  that  was  named  after  that  great  man,  that  you  people 
are  up  and  doing  and  going  to  get  some  results.  We  are  getting  results 


106  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

now,  but  I  do  not  want  to  make  you  fellows  feel  ashamed  of  your- 
selves (great  applause). 

CHAIRMAN  PARKER:  Gentlemen,  you  notice  how  much  better 
tempered  Mr.  Terrace  looks  now.  If  he  had  all  of  that  on  his  mind, 
I  don't  wonder  (laughter  and  applause). 

HIGHWAY  BRIDGES 

A.  N.  JOHNSON 
State  Highway  Engineer  of  Illinois 

As  each  State  has  taken  up  the  problem  of  highway  improvement, 
there  have  been  found  conditions  and  problems  for  which  the  experi- 
ence gained  by  States  that  had  already  studied  the  problem  did  not 
offer  a  complete  solution.  Thus  it  happened  when  the  Illinois  high- 
way commission  understood  the  study  of  highway  conditions  in  Illi- 
nois, they  were  confronted  by  the  fact  that  a  very  large  proportion 
of  the  money  spent  for  road  purposes  was  for  the  construction  and 
maintenance  of  highway  bridges,  and  that  there  existed  among  the 
local  officials  a  desire  for  assistance  in  the  construction  of  these  struc- 
tures. The  policy  was  therefore  adopted  of  making  a  special  study 
of  highway  bridges. 

The  conditions  found  in  Illinois  applied  so  generally  to  a  large  num- 
ber of  States,  and  the  work  of  the  Illinois  highway  commission  in 
assisting  and  directing  the  construction  of  highway  bridges  proved 
of  such  benefit,  that  much  attention  has  been  attracted  to  this  branch 
of  highway  work. 

The  wide  spread  interest  aroused,  and  the  importance  of  highway 
bridges  are  readily  understood,  when  we  consider  for  a  moment  that 
the  bridges  are  the  essential  links  connecting  many  sections  of  road 
which  would  otherwise  be  absolutely  useless.  There  are  now  in  all 
sections  of  the  country  wide  areas  well  traversed  by  roads  which  are 
much  used,  and  over  which  practically  all  descriptions  of  country 
highway  traffic  pass.  The  mileage  of  such  roads  is  so  great  as  to 
preclude  the  immediate  realization  of  their  being  covered  with  an 
improved,  durable  road  surface.  But  in  the  meantime  the  use  of 
these  roads  is  such  as  to  demand  at  present  a  class  of  highway  bridges 
practically  the  same  as  would  be  demanded  were  these  roads  improved. 
Therefore,  we  find  that  the  standard  that  should  be  adopted  for  high- 


HIGHWAY  BRIDGES  107 

way  bridges  is  necessarily  considerably  in  advance  of  the  standard  of 
road  surface  in  the  immediate  vicinity;  and  that  in  fact  the  character 
of  the  bridge  required  is  practically  independent  of  the  nature  of 
the  road  surface  leading  to  it. 

The  first  consideration  in  the  construction  of  a  bridge  is  the  public 
safety,  and  its  cost  must  be  subservient  to  this  requirement.  The 
engineer  far  better  rest  under  the  criticism  that  he  designed  a  bridge 
heavier  than  immediate  needs  may  require,  than  to  shoulder  the 
responsibility  of  loss  of  life  through  an  attempt  to  economize  in  the 
first  cost  of  the  structure. 

The  number  of  bridges  in  use  on  our  highways  today  in  the  well 
watered  areas  of  the  country  makes  their  cost  and  maintenance  a 
very  large  proportion  of  the  amount  that  is  raised  by  the  taxpayers 
for  expenditure  upon  the  highway,  and  while  exact  data  are  lacking 
to  show  the  precise  amount  relatively  spent  upon  roads  and  bridges, 
it  can  be  said  in  general  that  in  those  sections  of  the  country  where  a 
majority  of  the  roads  is  unimproved  that  the  bridge  expenditure  will 
average  from  three-tenths  to  one-half  the  total  amount  raised  for 
road  and  bridge  work. 

It  is  evident  that  the  more  that  is  spent  upon  the  roads  proper  and 
the  higher  the  cost  and  standard  of  road  surface  maintained  in  a  com- 
munity the  less  in  proportion  will  be  the  bridge  cost.  And  it  is  a 
fact  that  the  States  first  taking  up  the  question  of  road  improvement 
were  those  where  a  greater  proportion  of  money  was  spent  on  the  road 
surface.  Thus  the  cost  of  the  bridges  appeared  relatively  less,  and 
did  not  present  so  large  a  portion  of  the  road  problem  as  has  been 
the  case  with  many  States  subsequently  taking  up  highway  work 
where  a  great  majority  of  the  roads  are  earth  roads,  on  which  but  small 
sums  per  mile  have  been  spent. 

When  the  attention  of  various  State  highway  commissions  was 
turned  to  a  study  of  the  highway  bridges,  it  seemed  to  be  almost 
universally  noted  that  a  vast  majority  of  the  structures  now  in  use 
were  poorly  designed;  at  least  a  vast  majority  of  the  structures  have 
been  found  to  be  inadequate  to  modern  traffic  conditions.  Compara- 
tively few  structures  have  been  erected  under  proper  specifications 
and  design.  In  a  majority  of  instances  no  engineer  whatever  had  been 
retained  by  the  local  authorities  putting  up  the  various  structures. 

In  general  the  most  adverse  conditions  were  imposed,  and  the 
limited  funds  have  made  necessary  the  erection  of  the  least  expensive 
bridge  possible.  Through  lack  of  funds,  through  competition,  and 


108  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

through,  in  some  instances,  of  practices  of  more  than  doubtful  charac- 
ter, the  result  has  been  the  building  during  the  past  twenty  years 
in  practically  all  sections  of  the  country  of  a  class  of  highway  bridge 
of  the  most  ephemeral  character.  Often  lacking  sufficient  foundation, 
usually  composed  of  the  flimsiest  members,  there  was  required  no 
extraordinary  flood  conditions  to  wipe  them  away  entirely,  and  but 
comparatively  small  lapse  of  time  to  so  corrode  as  to  render  these 
structures  practically  worthless,  and  they  have  been  soon  replaced 
by  others. 

Too  often  the  history  of  these  bridges  has  been  that  scarcely  any 
better  structure  was  erected  the  second  time  than  first  occupied  the 
site;  so  that  it  is  found  that  while  no  small  sum  spent  for  highway 
bridges  is  for  new  bridges,  really  it  is  a  maintenance  expensive  as 
the  new  bridge  merely  replace  the  old  ones  that  are  worn  out  or  have 
been  destroyed,  while  the  amount  spent  for  new  bridges  on  new  sites 
is  comparatively  small;  so  that  we  may  regard  the  principal  portion  of 
the  amount  spent  for  bridges  really  as  bridge  maintenance.  There 
is  little  difficulty  to  demonstrate  the  economy  in  designs  for  durable 
bridges  in  this  first  instance. 

While  criticising  the  light  designs  of  many  steel  highway  bridges 
erected  a  number  of  years  ago,  due  allowance  should  fairly  be  made 
for  the  lighter  loads  which  bridges  twenty  and  thirty  years  ago  were 
called  upon  to  bear  in  the  country  districts.  At  that  time  a  6  or  8-ton 
traction  engine  was  about  the  heaviest  concentrated  load  to  come 
upon  these  structures;  whereas,  today  15  and  20-ton  traction  engines 
are  no  unusual  occurrence. 

In  the  first  lay  out  of  an  improved  bridge  thought  and  attention 
should  be  given  to  the  subsequent  improvement  of  the  road  in  the 
immediate  vicinity,  and  these  considerations  should  influence  the 
position  of  the  new  structure.  For  example  a  better  alignment  is 
required  by  modern  traffic  conditions.  It  is  no  unusual  occurrence 
to  see  a  highway  bridge  built  to  fit  the  stream  only,  utterly  disregard- 
ing the  sharp  turns  such  a  position  may  necessitate  to  the  direction 
taken  by  vehicles. 

It  is  clear  that  the  controlling  factor  in  the  design  of  any  type  of 
bridge  will  be  the  load  which  the  structure  must  carry,  and  until  the 
question  of  loading  to  be  provided  has  been  settled,  definite  specifi- 
cations can  not  be  made.  The  specification  for  loading  is  the  first, 
and  perhaps  the  most  important,  point  to  be  considered. 

The  problem  of  what  loads  to  allow  on  a  highway  bridge  involves 


HIGHWAY  BRIDGES  109 

much  greater  uncertainty  and  necessitates  perhaps  more  investiga- 
tion than  is  the  case  with  almost  any  other  type  of  structure  designed 
to  carry  given  loads.  That  this  is  true  will  be  readily  seen  when  we 
stop  a  moment  to  consider  the  usual  conditions  prevailing  on  highway 
bridges,  particularly  country  highway  bridges.  We  first  ask  ourselves 
what  is  the  largest  load  that  will  come  upon  this  bridge.  If  the 
bridge  is  located  comparatively  near  some  center  of  population,  it 
might  be  conceived  that  on  the  occasion  of  some  fete,  or  of  a  fire  or 
some  other  spectacular  event  which  would  call  forth  a  crowd,  this 
bridge  would  be  entirely  filled  with  people  closely  packed  together, 
imposing  a  load  totalling  125  to  150  pounds  per  square  foot.  Failures 
from  this  very  cause  have  occurred  with  great  loss  of  life. 

But  such  a  crowd  we  could  scarcely  conceive  to  be  on  a  bridge 
remotely  situated  from  a  center  of  population.  A  bridge  so  situated 
would  probably  receive  its  heaviest  loads  from  the  passage  of  a  large 
drove  of  cattle,  which  might  easily  weigh  from  85  to  100  pounds  per 
square  foot.  In  another  instance  we  could  conceive  of  a  large  amount 
of  teaming  and  one  heavily  loaded  wagon  closely  following  another. 
Such  a  load,  however,  of  horse  drawn  vehicles  would  seldom  reach 
600  pounds  per  lineal  foot,  which  would  be  equivalent  even  on  the 
narrowest  roadways  to  not  over  50  pounds  per  square  foot  of  bridge 
floor.  But,  in  turning  out  for  other  wagons  it  very  possibly  could  hap- 
pen that  a  line  of  loaded  wagons  would  be  driven  close  to  one  truss 
and  deliver  to  that  truss  stress  equivalent  to  a  100  pounds  per  square 
foot  over  the  entire  roadway  of  the  floor. 

There  are  in  use  today  wagons  to  be  hauled  by  traction  engines 
which  will  give  loads  equivalent  to  1500  or  1600  pounds  per  lineal 
foot,  and  would  thus  subject  a  16-foot  roadway  bridge,  if  the  entire 
span  were  covered  with  such  a  train  of  wagons,  to  an  equivalent  load 
of  100  pounds  per  square  foot  of  roadway.  There  is  much  less  prob- 
ability of  a  long  span  being  as  heavily  loaded  its  entire  length  as  a 
short  span.  The  usual  allowance  of  100  pounds  per  square  foot 
seems  adequate  for  most  conditions,  and  is  probably  excessive  for 
spans  over  125  to  150  feet  in  length. 

The  nature  of  the  country  around  about  exercises  some  influence 
on  the  character  of  loads  that  come  upon  our  highway  bridges.  For 
instance,  in  hilly  and  broken  country  there  is  not  the  need  or  possi- 
bility for  the  use  of  very  heavy  traction  engines.  Under  these  con- 
ditions, it  would  not,  therefore,  be  necessary  to  make  provision  in 
the  design  of  a  highway  bridge  for  such  heavy  concentrated  loads  as 
for  bridges  situated  in  different  surroundings. 


110  AMEKICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

Where  our  highway  bridges  are  subjected  to  street  car  traffic,  and 
to  heavy  traction  engines,  these  loads  are  known  with  considerable 
exactness  and  provision  for  them  can  be  readily  made,  and  there 
does  not  exist  so  very  much  uncertainty  as  to  what  should  be  allowed. 
These  loads,  however,  do  not  control  the  design  of  the  main  features 
of  any  but  very  short  span  structures.  The  design  of  our  longer  span 
structures  is  controlled  by  the  uniform  loading  per  square  foot  that 
is  to  be  carried.  It  is  this  loading  to  be  provided  for  that  is  the  most 
uncertain  element  in  the  design  of  highway  bridges. 

It  has  been  usual  to  recognize  the  varying  requirements  of  loads  for 
bridges  by  classifying  them  as  city,  suburban, country  highway  bridges, 
and  so  on,  the  chief  difference  in  loading  being  in  the  requirement 
for  the  concentrated  loads  to  be  carried,  usually  allowing  for  the  rural 
highway  bridges  a  6  or  8-ton  traction  engine  load.  But  today  in 
those  sections  of  the  country  where  traction  engines  are  used,  such 
loading  is  totally  inadequate,  and  nearer  20  tons  should  be  used. 

Perhaps  enough  has  been  brought  out  on  this  point  to  show  the 
necessity  of  closer  investigation  of  this  essential  feature  to  bridge 
design.  Let  us  pass  on  to  another  point. 

It  has  long  been  recognized  that  certain  portions  of  steel  structures 
receive  immediately  a  greater  stress  and  a  greater  shock  than  do  other 
portions  of  the  structure;  and  allowance  is  made  therefore  by  a  lower 
working  stress  for  the  steel  in  such  parts.  It  is  also  the  practice  to 
add  a  certain  proportion  of  the  live  load  stress  in  a  given  member  of 
a  steel  structure  for  what  are  called  impact  stresses.  These  impact 
stresses  from  the  usual  formulae  for  them  increase  the  live  lead  stress 
as  much  as  80  to  75  per  cent,  and  vary  from  this  downwards.  The 
formulae  on  which  these  allowances  are  based  are  for  the  most  part 
empirical,  and  apparently  have  been  derived  by  taking  a  certain 
fraction  of  the  impact  stress  allowed  in  similar  portions  of  a  bridge 
designed  for  railroad  service. 

If  any  analysis  of  these  impact  stress  allowances  is  to  be  made,  it  is 
evident,  first,  that  they  must  be  communicated  through  the  floor 
to  the  members  immediately  supporting  the  floor  construction  and 
thence  to  the  truss  members.  Such  stresses  must,  therefore,  depend 
upon  the  character  of  the  floor  in  the  first  place. 

In  order  to  arrive  at  some  rational  conclusion  as  to  what  to  allow 
for  such  stresses,  there  have  been  conducted  by  the  Illinois  Highway 
Commission  a  series  of  tests  with  bridges  of  various  designs  and  with 
various  loads,  to  ascertain  by  actual  measurement  how  much  stress 


HIGHWAY  BRIDGES  111 

over  the  static  stress  produced  by  the  load  is  transmitted  to  the  vari- 
ous members  of  the  bridge.  This  investigation  is  still  under  way, 
so  that  at  present  it  would  be  impossible  to  state  definitely  what  the 
final  conclusions  may  be. 

It  may  be  said,  however,  that  so  far  there  is  every  indication  that 
the  allowance  usually  made  for  impact  stresses  is  far  in  excess  of  what 
actually  occurs.  For  example,  no  impact  stress  whatever,  or  at  least 
of  so  small  amount  as  to  be  practically  negligible,  has  been  noted 
from  heavy  loads,  that  the  greatest  impact  stresses  come  from  light 
moving  loads.  If,  therefore,  our  bridge  has  but  a  light  load  upon  it, 
even  though  the  impact  produced  by  this  load  may  be  double  or  more, 
that  due  to  the  static  stress  of  the  load  itself,  yet  the  stresses  allowed 
for  full  loading  would  more  than  take  up  all  such  impact  stresses. 
If  there  are  no  impact  stresses  from  a  heavy  load,  then  there  would 
seem  to  be  no  logical  reason  for  additional  stress  to  be  allowed  in  the 
members  of  the  structure  from  this  cause.  It  has  also  been  found 
that  where  a  concrete  floor  with  a  protecting  pavement  or  cushion  is 
provided,  that  the  impact  stress  from  heavy  loads  is  very  much  less 
than  in  the  case  of  the  wood  floor.  These  investigations  have  also 
included  the  effect  of  the  distribution  of  a  concentrated  load  over  the 
floor  system. 

Another  development  in  highway  bridge  construction  has  been 
introduced  by  the  employment  of  reinforced  contrete.  There  is  an 
increasing  use  being  made  of  reinforced  concrete  by  its  applications 
to  viaduct  construction;  also  for  long  bridges  over  those  streams  where 
one  or  more  piers  in  the  river  does  not  constitute  a  serious  obstruction 
and  may  be  put  in  at  a  comparatively  reasonable  cost,  it  is  entirely 
feasible  to  put  in  short  span  reinforced  girder  construction  where 
previously  long  steel  spans  have  been  used. 

An  investigation  has  been  carried  on  by  the  Illinois  highway  com- 
mission on  a  40-foot  through  girder  concrete  bridge  that  has  given 
some  very  interesting  and  somewhat  remarkable  results.  While 
this  investiagtion  also  has  not  been  completed,  it  has  been  demonstrated 
clearly  that  there  is  a  great  increase  in  rigidity  of  reinforced  concrete 
structures.  For  example,  when  the  structure  under  test  was  ninety 
days  old  the  deflection  was  measured  under  a  certain  load,  whereas 
when  the  structure  was  a  little  over  three  years  old  it  took  twice 
the  same  load  to  produce  the  same  deflection. 

The  possibilites  resulting  from  reinforced  concrete  design  with 
the  use  of  girder  construction  makes  possible  concrete  bridges  where 


112  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

arches  would  be  impractical  from  their  great  expense,  owing  to  the 
fact  that  the  arch  to  be  stable  must  have  the  most  rigid  of  foundations, 
and  such  a  foundation,  if  secured  on  other  than  the  hardest  of  shale 
or  gravel  footings  or  rock  formation,  can  be  attained  only  at  com- 
paratively large  expense.  The  great  risk  that  is  run  by  putting  arches 
on  other  than  the  most  secure  of  foundations  has  been  well  illustrated 
of  late  by  a  number  of  failures  of  these  structures,  in  every  instance 
caused  through  inadequate  provision  in  this  particular. 

On  the  other  hand,  where  the  foundation  may  subside  somewhat 
under  a  girder  or  slab,  no  serious  results  happen  to  the  girder.  Thus 
the  allowance  to  be  made  for  such  a  foundation  need  be  no  greater 
than  usually  allowed  where  steel  spans  have  been  erected.  The  reac- 
tion from  the  girder  spans  on  the  footings  is  vertical,  and  the  subsid- 
ence therefore  in  a  vertical  direction.  But  in  the  instance  of  arches 
the  reactions  are  at  an  angle  and  subsidence  causes  a  displacement  of 
the  entire  foundation,  making  it  practically  impossible  to  restore, 
without  extensive  reconstruction,  the  stability  of  the  arch  structure. 

In  the  design  of  reinforced  concrete  structures  of  any  considerable 
span,  the  weight  of  the  bridge  itself  to  be  supported  is  usually  consid- 
erably more,  frequently  four  to  five  times  that  of  any  possible  live 
loads  to  be  supported;  and  with  the  usual  low  stress  limit  taken  for 
both  concrete  and  steel,  it  may  be  easily  shown  in  such  structures 
that  for  either  of  the  materilas  to  be  stressed  at  all  near  their  elastic 
limit,  will  require  from  seven  to  ten  applications  of  the  live  load.  In 
other  words,  on  these  structures,  even  if  the  live  load  should  be 
doubled,  the  stress  in  the  materials  has  not  been  very  much  increased 
and  has  not  been  brought  at  all  near  a  dangerous  limit.  So  that. if 
reinforced  concrete  bridges  are  designed  with  the  ordinary  low  work- 
ing stresses  in  the  steel  and  concrete  to  carry  the  dead  load,  they  are 
amply  safe  for  all  possible  conditions  of  loading  that  can  arise,  save 
in  the  case  of  comparatively  thin  floor  slabs  which  carry  a  concentrated 
load  of  considerable  weight,  in  which  case  the  floor  slab  must  be 
designed  to  carry  not  only  its  own  weight,  but  the  concentrated  load 
in  addition.  Moreover,  it  is  well  established  that  the  older  these 
concrete  structures  are,  the  more  rigid  they  become  and  more  abler 
to  carry  their  loads  with  decreasing  deformations  in  the  structure, 
and  consequently  decreasing  wear  and  tear. 

There  is,  however,  one  point  in  the  design  of  reinforced  concrete 
structures  that  should  not  be  over  looked,  and  should  be  mentioned 
even  in  a  paper  of  as  narrow  limits  as  the  present  one;  and  that  is 


HIGHWAY  BRIDGES  113 

the  temperature  stresses.  It  will  be  found  on  investigation  that  the 
steel  reinforcement,  or  at  least  that  portion  of  it  comprising  the  prin- 
cipal reinforcement  in  girders  or  beams,  will  receive  its  greatest  stress 
from  temperature  changes.  Where  the  superstructure  is  heavy,  to 
provide  sliding  plates  at  the  end  of  beams  does  not  seem  to  be  sufficient 
entirely  to  relieve  the  steel  reinforcement  from  temperature  stresses. 
The  great  weight  and  the  high  coefficient  of  friction  make  the  force 
necessary  to  allow  a  slip,  a  very  large  part  of  the  allowable  stress  in 
the  steel.  In  fact  on  a  number  of  bridges  of  this  character  under  the 
writer's  observation,  although  provided  with  these  plates,  and  between 
the  plates  heavy  oil  or  paraffine  was  inserted,  the  abutments  usually 
give  before  there  is  any  sliding. 

It  would  seem,  however,  if  the  dead  load  stresses  do  not  require 
over  10,000  or  12,000  pounds  per  square  inch  of  the  steel  reinforcement, 
that  there  will  be  enough  reserve  to  withstand  the  additional  stress 
produced  by  temperature,  although  the  steel  deformation  in  this 
case  may  be  occasionally  sufficient  to  cause  fine  cracks  to  appear  in 
extreme  cold  weather  in  the  lower  portion  of  the  beams  and  girders. 
These,  however,  entirely  close  up  and  disappear  with  a  rise  in  the 
temperature  and  would  seem  to  be  a  cause  for  no  anxiety  as  to  the 
stability  and  strength  of  the  structure. 

For  example,  in  the  test  bridge  before  mentioned,  a  40-foot  span 
carries  a  load  of  580  tons,  with  a  deflection  of  a  little  less  than  one 
inch,  although  the  structure  has  passed  through  three  winters.  This 
load  has  been  on  the  bridge  for  a  number  of  weeks,  so  that  in  the 
writer's  opinion  well  designed  reinforced  concrete  work  may  be  con- 
sidered fully  as  trustworthy  as  any  material  or  construction. 

It  has  been  impossible  in  the  limited  scope  of  a  paper  of  this  sort 
to  enter  into  the  many  details  of  highway  bridge  construction,  but 
enough  may  have  been  brought  out  to  illustrate  the  aim  of  this  paper, 
which  is  that  there  are  many  important  phases  governing  the  design 
of  highway  bridges  yet  to  be  met,  that  the  importance  of  these  struc- 
tures has  not  until  recently  been  recognized,  and  they  have  only  begun 
to  receive  the  attention  of  engineers  that  their  importance  demands. 
It  is  hoped  that  the  study  given  to  this  subject  at  present  will  result 
in  some  material  addition  to  our  knowledge  of  benefit  to  engineers, 
and  through  them  to  the  public  paying  for  and  using  these  structures. 
And  finally  that  the  construction  of  well  designed  bridges  is  an  essen- 
tial step  towards  future  road  improvement. 

The  Association  then  took  a  recess  until  8  o'clock  p.  m. 


ROAD  USERS'  DAY 

November  22,  1911 

COLONEL  WM.  D.  SOHIER,  Chairman, 
Member  of  the  Massachusetts  State  Highway  Commission 

ADDRESS  OF  WELCOME 

PRESTON  BELVIN, 
President  Virginia  Automobile  Association 

Members  of  the  American  Roads  Congress  and  invited  guest,  I 
have  been  requested  to  extend  to  you  welcome  to  the  Commonwealth 
of  the  State  of  Virginia  and  to  the  beautiful  City  of  Richmond. 

The  members  of  the  Virginia  State  Automobile  Association  also 
Richmond  City  Automobile  Association  and  every  citizen  of  Virginia 
join  me  in  extending  to  you  a  warm,  hearty  Virginia  welcome. 

Several  years  ago  I  attended  a  convention  in  the  city  of  Louisville 
and  the  welcome  was  "Howdy. "  A  little  over  a  year  ago  I  attended 
a  convention  in  the  city  of  New  Orleans  and  there  it  was  "We  are 
glad  you  have  cum  and  hope  you  will  cum  again. "  This,  year  I 
attended  a  convention  in  Rochester  where  the  words  of  welcome  were 
"We  are  glad  to  see  you  and  trust  you  will  feel  to  hum."  Now, 
gentlemen,  we  want  to  say  to  all  of  you:  "Howdy."  "  We  are  glad 
you  have  cum  and  hope  you  will  cum  again"  and  while  here  we  trust 
you  will  feel  to  "hum;"  and  assure  you  it  will  be  no  fault  of  ours 
if  you  are  not  in  touch  with  the  hospitality  for  which  Virginia  is 
famed. 

You  had  emblazoned  upon  your  banners  since  leaving  home  "on 
to  Richmond. "  In  years  gone  by  it  took  four  years  to  come  from  the 
borders  of  Virginia  and  capture  the  City  of  Richmond.  Times  have 
changed.  You  have  been  sailing  through  Virginia  on  beautiful  roads. 
You  are  here  and  are  ours  and  we  trust  your  captivity  may  prove  a 
great  pleasure  and  your  visit  in  attending  this  convention  will  prove 
valuable  to  you  and  the  information  that  you  may  carry  back  to 
your  section  of  the  country,  be  valuable  to  its  citizens. 

114 


ADDRESS  OF  WELCOME  115 

Good  roads  are  important  in  the  financial,  social  and  educational 
well  being.  No  enumeration  of  their  advantages  would  likely  include 
all  of  the  benefits. 

Good  roads  decrease  the  cost  of  transportation;  permit  the  cultiva- 
tion of  crops,  not  otherwise  marketable;  of  a  wider  choice  of  time  in 
the  marketing  of  crops ;  permit  the  marketing  to  be  done  when  the  prices 
are  most  favorable;  of  a  wider  choice  of  the  marketing  place;  permit 
more  easy  intercourse  between  the  members  of  the  rural  communities; 
often  change  rural,  into  suburban  property;  make  it  desirable  for 
people  living  in  the  city  to  purchase  homes  in  the  country  where  they 
can  be  accessible  by  good  roads,  and  make  it  possible  for  the  United 
States  government  to  successfully  distribute  rural  mail  while  the 
government  does  not  spend  a  dollar  to  improve  the  roads  they  are 
wearing  out. 

Good  roads  facilitate  the  consolidation  of  school  in  rural  districts, 
thereby  increasing  their  economy  and  efficiency.  This  is  an  important 
matter  to  the  coming  generations  throughout  this  country,  especially 
in  the  South.  Without  good  roads  it  is  impossible  to  successfully 
carry  on  consolidated  schools.  In  Virginia  we  have  more  of  these 
schools  than  any  other  Southern  State,  due  to  our  active,  wide  awake 
and  able  State  superintendent  of  schools,  Mr.  J.  D.  Eggleston,  Jr. 

The  great  educational  institutions  of  our  country  are  waking  up 
to  the  importance  of  training  our  young  men  in  good  road  building. 
The  Columbia  University  of  New  York  has  already  established  a 
chair  for  good  roads  engineering.  Other  universities  and  colleges 
are  following  her  lead.  This  is  an  age  of  practical  education  and  our 
public  schools  should  add  to  their  curriculum  a  special  course  in  road 
building. 

If  I  have  been  correctly  informed  the  government  of  the  United 
States  has  made  an  appropriation  of  $2,000,000  for  erecting  a  me- 
morial to  Abraham  Lincoln.  Mr.  Lincoln,  as  we  all  agree,  was  a  prac- 
tical man,  and  if  he  were  alive  today,  he  would  protest  against  having 
his  name  immortalized  in  a  monument  of  stone  or  an  arch  of  bronze. 
It  has  been  suggested  by  some  that  a  highway  be  built  from  Washing- 
ton to  Gettysburg  to  be  known  as  the  Lincoln  Highway.  There  is 
at  present  a  most  excellent  road  leading  from  Washington  City  to 
Gettysburg  and  it  would  be  establishing  a  most  extravagant  precedent 
to  use  Washington  as  a  hub  and  build  national  highways  to  the  battle- 
fields throughout  America.  In  fact,  it  would  bankrupt  the  govern- 
ment. 


116  AMEBICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

Mr.  Lincoln  believed  in  a  united  country.  He  devoted  the  last 
years  of  his  life  to  accomplishing  this  purpose  and  became  a  martyr 
to  his  success. 

Now,  gentlemen,  can  any  suggest  a  more  befitting,  lasting  me- 
morial to  Abraham  Lincoln  than  a  highway  built  of  everlasting 
materials  from  the  Federal  capital,  Washington  to  the  Confederate 
capital,  Richmond,  Virginia,  to  be  known  as  the  Lincoln  Memorial 
Highway,  linking  together  the  foremost  historic  cities  of  America. 

This  highway  would  pass  through  the  most  interesting  sections  of 
this  entire  country,  for  Virginia,  it  must  be  known,  has  been  the  battle- 
field of  all  of  the  great  wars  in  America — the  early  Indian  wars, 
colonial  wars,  surrender  of  Cornwallis  at  Yorktown,  Virginia,  and 
the  closing  of  the  war  between  the  states  at  Appomattox  Court 
House,  Virginia.  Every  question  in  which  war  was  involved  in  the 
United  States  has  been  determined  upon  the  soil  of  Virginia. 

Let  me  take  you  by  easy  stages  from  the  City  of  Washington  to 
the  city  of  Richmond,  every  inch  of  which  enters  into  the  history  mak- 
ing epochs  of  this  country. 

Alexandria  County — We  pass  near  the  historical  home  of  the  im- 
mortal George  Washington,  Mount  Vernon,  through  his  landed 
estates,  and  over  the  very  roads  so  frequently  travelled  by  him. 

Spottslyvania  County — The  county  where  the  great  battles  of  Fred- 
ericksburg,  Chancellorsville  and  the  Wilderness  were  fought  and 
where  Stonewall  Jackson  met  his  end. 

The  highway  would  wind  through  the  historical  counties  of  Caro- 
line, Hanover  and  Henrico.  To  describe  the  great  battles  that  took 
place  hi  these  counties  would  consume  too  much  of  your  time,  but  will 
say  this  highway  would  pass  through  a  section  dotted  with  battle- 
fields, to  the  breastworks  around  the  city  of  Richmond. 

Within  a  radius  of  a  few  miles  of  Richmond  the  tourists,  sightseers 
and  those  interested  in  the  history  of  our  country  would  be  in  easy 
touch  with  the  battlefields  of  the  crater,  Gaines  Mill,  Malvern  Hill 
and  if  you  would  take  the  Peninsula  highway  road,  which  is  possibly 
one  of  the  best  sand  clay  roads  in  the  country,  you  would  pass  through 
the  historic  city  of  Williamsburg,  where  is  located  the  William  and 
Mary  College,  one  of  the  earliest  institutions  of  learning  in  America. 
You  would  also  be  within  a  few  miles  ride  of  Jamestown,  Yorktown 
and  Fortress  Monroe.  There  are  so  many  historical  attractions  in 
and  around  the  city  of  Richmond,  it  would  consume  the  entire  time 
of  this  convention  to  enumerate. 


MOTOR  TRAFFIC  REGULATION  IN  MASSACHUSETTS  117 

We  are  proud  to  have  the  first  Good  Roads  Congress  of  America 
assemble  in  the  city  of  Richmond  in  conjunction  with  the  American 
Association  for  Highway  Improvement,  and  we  trust  that  Richmond 
may  be  named  as  the  permanent  Convention  City  of  your  congress. 

Allow  me  again  to  extend  to  you  a  hearty  and  cordial  welcome  to 
the  State  of  Virginia  and  its  capital  city,  Richmond,  and  when  you 
leave  we  trust  that  you  will  have  a  pleasant  and  safe  trip  to  your 
homes  and  feel  that  you  were  profited  and  benefitted  by  attending  the 
Good  Roads  Convention  held  in  Richmond. 

MOTOR  TRAFFIC  REGULATION   IN  MASSACHUSETTS 

COLONEL  WM.  D.  SOHIER, 
Member  of  the  Massachusetts  State  Highway  Commission 

I  feel  highly  honored  at  being  asked  to  address  you  on  "Road 
Users'  Day"  and  to  speak  to  you  especially  about  automobile  regu- 
lation in  Massachusetts. 

Before  taking  up  this  special  subject  it  may  be  well  to  consider  what 
the  character  of  the  travel  that  is  using  our  highways  at  particular 
points  is,  and  how  that  travel  is  likely  to  develop  in  the  future. 

In  1909  the  Massachusetts  highway  commission  made  a  traffic 
census  of  the  vehicles  using  State  highways. 

The  passing  vehicles  were  actually  counted  at  240  stations  upon  our 
State  highways  scattered  throughout  the  State  for  14  hours  a  day, 
7  days  in  August  and  7  days  in  October.  They  were  classified  into 
heavy  and  light  horse-drawn  vehicles,  and  the  motor  vehicles  were 
divided  into  touring  cars  and  runabouts.  At  that  time  the  motor 
truck  had  not  appeared. 

I  insert  below  a  table,  which  I  will  not  read  to  you,  which  gives  a 
summary  of  this  traffic  census. 

The  actual  count  showed  that  on  some  of  the  roads  the  motor  vehi- 
cles, even  at  that  time,  constituted  90  per  cent  of  the  traffic  and  in 
several  instances  over  1100  cars  a  day  passed  a  given  point. 

A  census  was  taken  at  certain  places  in  the  parkways  near  Boston 
and  this  count  showed  over  60  per  cent  automobile  travel  and  over 
3000  automobiles  a  day.  Even  at  that  time,  therefore,  on  many  of 
our  highways,  especially  on  the  main  routes,  it  was  found  that  the 
motor  vehicles  constituted  more  than  one-half  of  the  travel. 


118 


AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

Average    Daily  Traffic— All  Stations 


AUGUST  CENSUS 


OCTOBER  CENSUS 


Horse-drawn 

Light 19,622 

Heavy 17,969 

Total 37,591 

Automobiles : 

Runabouts 5,922 

Touring  cars 21,387 

Total 27,309 

All  kinds 64,900 

Per  cent,  horse  drawn 58 

Per  cent  automobiles 42 

Average  per  station* 

Horse  drawn: 

Light 83 

Heavy 76 

Total 159 

Automobiles 115 

All  kinds  . .  274 


16,456 
17,967 


34,423 


3,995 
14,514 


18,509 


52,952 


65 
35 


75 


144 


77 


221 


"In  August  237  stations;  in  October  240  stations. 


ACCIDENTS  UPON  OUR  STREETS  AND  HIGHWAY 

I  thought  it  would  be  of  interest  to  ascertain  as  accurately  as  possi- 
ble the  cause  of  the  various  accidents  which  occur  in  our  streets  and 
highways,  how  many  of  them  were  due  to  traffic,  how  many  to  other 
causes,  and  of  those  due  to  traffic  what  proportion  was  due  to  the 
motor  vehicles  and  what  proportion  was  caused  by  other  classes  of 
vehicles  using  our  highways.  At  my  request  many  of  the  following 
figures  were  collected  and  collated  from  official  reports  by  Mr.  George 
McClure  Sargent,  secretary  of  the  Safe  Roads  Automobile  Associa- 
tion of  Massachusetts. 

Automobile  accidents  throughout  the  country  are  receiving  an 
undue  share  of  notoriety.  They  are  given  scare  headlines  in  the  papers, 
partly  because  this  is  a  new  means  of  locomotion  and  partly  because 
of  the  prominence  of  the  people  occupying  the  automobiles. 


MOTOR  TRAFFIC  REGULATION  IN  MASSACHUSETTS  119 

I  think  this  matter  will  be  of  some  interest  to  you.  Please  remem- 
ber that  of  all  the  automobile  accidents  which  we  were  able  to  hear  of 
and  report,  960  of  the  total  of  1182  accidents  in  1910  occurred  in  city 
streets.  In  other  words,  4  accidents  occurred  in  city  streets  to  every 
1  that  occurred  in  the  country. 

The  figures  submitted  by  Mr.  Sargent  were  taken  from  the  reports 
of  the  police  commissioner  of  the  City  of  Boston  and  of  the  railroad 
commissioners  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts. 

As  the  months  reported  on  do  not  exactly  correspond,  I  have  made 
them  as  nearly  as  I  could  to  represent  the  same  period  of  time  as  is 
covered  by  the  report  of  our  commission. 

ACCIDENTS  IN  BOSTON  STREETS 

During  the  year  ending  November  30,  1910,  according  to  the  report 
of  the  police  commissioner,  the  following  number  of  people  were 
killed  and  injured  in  the  streets,  parks  and  squares  of  Boston: 

Total  number  of  people  killed 94 

, Total  number  of  people  injured 2025 

Due  to  Traffic : 

Deaths 50 

Injuries 1022 

In  other  words,  only  about  half  of  the  deaths  and  only  half  of  the 
injuries  were  due  to  traffic.  Very  few  of  these  injuries  were  due  to 
fire  engines,  bicycles  and  trains,  so  these  figures  are  omitted. 

Deaths  and  injuries  due  to  traffic 
Total  number  deaths,  50 

Due  to  horse  drawn  vehicles 15,  or  30  per  cent 

Due  to  trolley  cars 22,  or  44  per  cent 

Due  to  automobiles 13,  or  26  per  cent 

Total  number  injuries,  1022 

Due  to  trolley  cars 383,  or  37£  per  cent 

Due  to  horse  drawn  vehicles 359,  or  35    per  cent 

Due  to  automobiles 280,  or  27£  per  cent 

In  this  same  period  of  time  various  other  accidents  were  due  to 
other  causes,  by  far  the  largest  of  which  were  falls  resulting  in  23  deaths 
and  777  injuries. 


120  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

In  other  words,  there  were  nearly  twice  as  many  deaths  and  nearly 
twice  as  many  injuries  in  the  streets  of  Boston  which  were  due  to 
people  falling  in  the  street  and  being  injured  than  were  due  to  motor 
vehicles. 

It  is  a  little  hard  to  make  comparisons  because  the  number  of 
electric  cars,  horse  drawn  vehicles  and  automobiles  is  not,  really, 
a  fair  criterion.  The  mileage  should  also  be  taken  into  account. 

INCREASE  IN  MOTOR  VEHICLES 

To  make  a  comparison  today,  we  should  consider  the  growth  of 
the  number  of  automobiles  using  our  streets. 

Automobiles  were  registered  in  Massachusetts 

In  1903 3,241 

In  1909 23,902 

In  1910 31,347 

In  1911 38,677 

At  least  5000  dealers'  cars  are  registered  as  well. 
Since  our  traffic  statistics  were  taken  the  number  of  automobiles 
registered  hi  the  State  has  increased  over  60  per  cent. 

DECREASE  IN  HORSES 

In  Massachusetts  in  1909  about  169,000  horses  were  assessed  and  in 
1910  about  165,000.  In  this  one  year  the  number  of  horses  assessed 
had  decreased  4000  and  the  number  of  automobiles  registered  had 
increased  7400.  Undoubtly  there  is  more  of  a  change  this  year. 

I  merely  put  in  these  figures  as  preliminary  to  further  consideration 
of  to  what  extent  the  automobile  is  responsible  for  the  accidents 
which  occur  on  our  highways.  It  is  evident  today  that  they  consti- 
tute fully  50  per  cent  of  all  the  vehicles  that  are  passing  over  our 
highways. 

MILEAGE    OF    MOTOR    VEHICLES 

To  ascertain  the  mileage  covered  by  motor  vehicles  in  Massachusetts 
one  must  adopt  a  somewhat  arbitrary  formula.  I  have  adopted  one 
which  I  believe  to  be  conservative  and,  if  anything,  I  think  it  does 
not  show  sufficient  mileage  for  the  motor  vehicles. 

Assuming  that  each  automobile  registered  for  a  full  year  has  a 
mileage  of  5000  miles;  that  each  auto  registered  for  three  months  has 


MOTOR  TRAFFIC  REGULATION  IN  MASSACHUSETTS  121 

a  mileage  of  3000  miles  and  that  the  5  cars  registered  by  each  dealer 
have  a  mileage  of  10,000  miles  per  year,  we  find  that  the  automobiles 
travelling  over  the  roads  in  Masssachusetts  went  in  one  year — 185,806,- 
000  miles. 

This  leaves  out  of  account  the  fact  that  fully  one-third  of  the  cars 
in  our  State  for  two  to  three  months  in  the  summer  are  non-resident 
cars,  entitled  to  use  our  highways  freely  for  ten  days  provided  the 
State  in  which  they  belong  grants  like  privileges  to  citizens  of  Mass- 
achusetts. (I  might  say  that  this  privilege  is  granted  to  non-residents 
by  all  of  the  New  England  States,  without  exception.) 

ACCIDENTS — TROLLEY  CARS  AND  MOTOR  VEHICLES 

It  is  interesting  to  compare,  upon  this  basis  of  mileage  the  accidents 
occasioned  by  trolley  cars  and  the  accidents  occasioned  by  automobiles. 
The  trolley  car  mileage  and  accidents  are  both  official  figures  taken 
from  the  railroad  commissioners'  report. 

Trolley  Cars:  Miles  travelled,  87,712,572 
Fatal  accidents 

Passengers  and  employees 28 

Outsiders 78 

Total 106 

Injuries 

Passengers  and  employees 5273 

Outsiders 1917 

Total 7190 

Motor  vehicles:  Miles  travelled,  185,806,000 
Fatal  accidents 

In  motor  vehicles 25 

Outsiders 52 

Total 77 

Injuries 

In  motor  vehicles 378 

Outsiders 585 

Total 963 

Assuming  that  the  above  mileage  for  motor  vehicles  is  correct,  we 
should  have  the  following  results : 


122  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

Number  of  miles  travelled  by  trolley  cars  and  motor  vehicles  to  each  ensuing  accident 


TROLLEYS 

MOTOR  VEHICLES 

Miles  per  accident  to  anyone  including  fatal 
cases                          

12,053 

178,660 

Miles  travelled  per  fatal  accident  

827,477 

2,413,065 

Miles  travelled  per  injury  

12,199 

192,945 

Accidents  to  persons  who  are  not  employees  or  occupants  of  cars 


Miles  travelled  per  accident  

44,389 

291  689 

Miles  travelled  per  fatal  accident 

1  124520 

3  573  192 

Miles  travelled  per  injury 

45  755 

317  617 

Accidents  to  employees  and  occupants  of  cars 


Miles  travelled  per  accident 

16546 

461  057 

Miles  travelled  per  fatal  accident  

3,132,449 

7  432  240 

Miles  travelled  per  injury  

16,634 

491  577 

From  the  above  table  it  will  be  seen  that  there  is  only  one  accident 
for  every  12,000  miles  covered  by  an  electric  car  and  only  one  accident 
for  every  178,000  miles  travelled  by  a  motor  vehicle; 

That  an  electric  car  has  to  travel  over  800,000  miles  before  causing 
a  fatal  accident  and  a  motor  vehicle  has  to  travel  over  2,400,000 
miles  before  causing  a  fatal  accident. 

In  other  words,  a  motor  vehicle  travels  3  miles  to  each  fatal  accident 
to  each  mile  travelled  by  an  electric  car. 

Now  as  to  injuries — a  motor  vehicle  travels  nearly  193,000  miles 
before  causing  any  injury  while  an  electric  car  travels  only  a  little  over 
12,000  miles  before  causing  an  injury.  You  will  note,  again,  that  the 
motor  vehicle  goes  16  miles  to  the  trolley's  one  before  it  causes  an 
injury. 

ACCIDENTS  TO  OUTSIDERS 

The  figures  are  equally  striking  when  applied  to  accidents  which 
happen  to  persons  who  are  neither  occupants  of  cars  nor  employees. 
Here  the  motor  vehicle  travels  over  290,000  miles  to  each  accident  and 
the  electric  car  over  44,000  miles. 

The  motor  vehicle  travels  over  3,500,000  miles  to  each  fatal  accident 
and  the  electric  car  1,125,000  miles. 


MOTOR  TRAFFIC  REGULATION  IN  MASSACHUSETTS  123 

The  motor  vehicle  travels  over  317,000  before  causing  injury  and 
the  electric  car  travels  only  46,000  miles. 

Here  again,  you  will  note  that  the  motor  vehicle  travels  7  to  8 
miles  before  causing  any  accident  to  anyone  outside  of  the  car  itself 
to  each  mile  that  is  travelled  by  the  electric  car. 

Considering  the  fact  that  the  electric  car  is  always  travelling  upon 
rails  and  upon  its  own  location  and  that  every  one  knows  where  to 
find  it  in  the  highway,  it  is  significant  that  the  electric  cars  are  respon- 
sible for  so  many  more  accidents  for  each  mile  travelled  than  are 
automobiles. 

As  I  have  no  figures  to  show  the  mileage  of  teams  in  the  State  or 
the  accidents  caused  by  teams  I  can  only  refer  to  the  figures  in  Boston 
which  show  the  accidents  occurring  in  the  streets  from  all  causes. 

I  might  say  in  passing,  however,  that  applying  our  actual  traffic 
census  and  taking  the  number  of  horses  assesssed  in  the  Common- 
wealth and  assuming  that  each  horse  travels  on  an  average  of  10 
miles  a  day  for  365  days  in  the  year,  the  mileage  made  now  by  automo- 
biles and  that  made  by  horses  would  not  be  very  different. 

I  do  not  give  any  of  these  figures  in  order  to  in  any  way  condone  the 
fault  of  the  reckless  and  inconsiderate  operator  of  motor  vehicles. 
There  are  altogether  too  many  of  them  upon  the  roads  although,  in 
my  opinion,  their  number  is  constantly  decreasing.  The  vast 
majority  of  automobile  operators  and  owners  are  careful,  considerate 
of  the  rights  of  others  and,  as  I  have  shown  above,  they  are,  I  think, 
no  more  of  a  danger  to  other  users  of  the  highways  then  are  elecrtic 
cars  and  horse  drawn  vehicles. 

This  brings  me  to  the  class  of  users  of  our  highways  about  which 
I  was  requested  to  speak — the  motor  vehicle  and  its  regulation  in 
Massachusetts. 

AUTOMOBILE  LEGISLATION  IN  MASSACHUSETTS 

Let  me  state  at  the  outset  that  automobile  regulation  in  Massa- 
chusetts is  first  determined  by  statue  and  then  regulated  by  the  Massa- 
chusetts highway  commission,  of  which  I  have  the  honor  to  be  a 
member. 

No  person  can  operate  an  unregistered  motor  vehicle  and  no  person 
can  operate  a  motor  vehicle  without  having  received  a  license  from 
the  Massachusetts  highway  commission. 


124  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

SUSPENSION  AND  REVOCATION  OF  OPERATORS*  LICENSES 

The  commission  may  revoke  a  license,  after  due  hearing,  for  any  cause 
it  may  deem  sufficient;  and 

It  may  suspend  a  license,  without  a  hearing,  whenever  it  has  reason 
to  believe  that  the  holder  thereof  is  an  improper  or  incompetent  person 
to  operate  motor  vehicle  or  is  operating  improperly  or  so  as  to  endan- 
ger the  public;  and 

The  license  shall  not  be  reissued  unless  the  commission  upon  exam- 
ination or  investigation,  or  after  a  hearing,  determines  that  the  person 
should  again  be  permitted  to  operate.  (This  law  has  been  in  effect 
since  1903.) 

In  1908  the  commission  was  authorized  by  law  to  investigate  auto- 
mobile accidents. 

Whenever  a  death  results  from  any  such  accident  the  commission 
shall  suspend  forthwith  the  license  of  the  operator  of  the  motor  vehicle 
involved,  and  it  shall  revoke  said  license  unless,  after  an  investigation 
or  hearing,  it  determines  that  the  accident  occurred  without  serious 
fault  upon  the  part  of  the  operator.  No  person  whose  license  is 
so  revoked  shall  be  licensed  again  within  six  months  from  date  of 
suspension,  nor  thereafter  except  in  the  discretion  of  the  commission. 

The  commission  shall  revoke  the  license  of  a  person  three  times 
convicted  of  overspeeding  in  any  one  calendar  year;  and  no  new 
license  may  be  issued  to  such  a  person  until  after  the  expiration  of  a 
period  of  thirty  days  from  the  date  of  the  third  conviction.  (Acts 
of  1909.) 

The  commission  shall  revoke  the  license  of  any  person  convicted  of 
operating  a  motor  vehicle  recklessly,  or  while  under  the  influence  of 
intoxicating  liquor,  or  so  as  to  endanger  the  lives  or  safety  of  the  public 
or  upon  a  bet,  wager  or  race,  or  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  record 
or  of  going  away  without  stopping  and  making  himself  known  after 
causing  injury  to  person  or  property,  or  of  using  a  motor  vehicle  with- 
out authority;  and  no  new  license  shall  be  issued  to  any  such  person 
before  the  expiration  of  a  period  of  sixty  days  from  the  date  of  convic- 
tion nor  thereafter  except  in  the  discretion  of  the  commission. 

Whenever  any  person  so  convicted  appeals  the  commmission  shall 
suspend  the  license  of  the  person,  and  shall  not  reissue  said  license 
unless  such  person  is  acquitted  in  the  appellate  court,  or  unless  the 
commission  in  its  discretion,  after  an  investigation  or  hearing,  decides 
to  reissue  it.  (Acts  of  1906  as  amended.) 


MOTOR  TRAFFIC  REGULATION  IN  MASSACHUSETTS  125 

EXAMINATION  OF  OPERATORS 

The  commission,  by  law,  has  the  right  to  appoint  investigators 
and  examiners.  It  has  appointed  seven  such  investigators  and  exam- 
iners and  they  are  among  the  most  competent  men  of  their  class  to 
be  found  anywhere.  These  examiners  examine  every  chauffeur  before 
he  receives  a  license.  He  is  required  to  pass  a  written  examination 
and  also  to  pass  a  severe  operating  test  on  the  road. 

Examinations  held  in  1910 5433 

Number  of  persons  examined 4138 

Number  of  persons  receiving  licenses 3701 

Number  of  persons  failed  on  first  examination 1268 

Number  of  persons  refused  a  license  after  several  examinations  .  437 

In  other  words,  over  10  per  cent  of  all  the  persons  examined  failed 
to  receive  a  license  and  nearly  25  per  cent  of  all  the  persons  failed 
to  pass  upon  the  first  examination. 

INVESTIGATION  OF  ACCIDENTS 

During  the  year  1910  its  investigators  made  investigation  and 
reported  on  429  accidents. 

In  that  year  283  licenses  or  registration  certificates  were  revoked 
or  suspended.  The  causes  of  these  revocations  and  suspensions  are 
shown  in  the  following  table : 

Causes  of  suspensions  and  revocations 

Reckless  operation 50 

Operating  while  under  influence  of  intoxicating  liquor 22 

Accidents  resulting  in  death 57 

Improper  operation 88 

Refusing  or  neglecting  to  stop  after  accident 9 

Three  overspeeding  convictions 8 

Operating  automobile  without  owner's  permission 23 

Other  offenses • 26 

Total 283 

COMMISSION'S  DUTIES  AND  POWERS 

The  commission  has  authority  to  suspend  the  license  of  an  operator 
when  it  has  reason  to  believe  that  he  is  an  improper  person  to  operate 
or  is  operating  improperly. 

It  is  required  to  hold  hearings  whenever  requested  by  complainants 
or  by  operators.  During  the  year  1910  the  commission  held  197  of 


126 


AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 


such  hearings.  Each  hearing  takes  anywhere  from  fifteen  minutes 
to  all  day  and  the  hearings  occupy  certainly  the  whole  of  one  day  in 
each  week. 

In  eleven  months  of  the  year  1911  the  commission  has  held  243 
hearings.  During  the  same  period  it  has  suspended  172  licenses  and 
has  revoked  92  licenses. 

COOPERATION    OF   AUTOMOBILISTS   AND    ASSOCIATIONS 

I  wish  to  say  that  the  passage  of  these  laws,  although  suggested 
and  recommended  by  the  committee  appointed  at  the  conference  of 
the  New  England  governors  held  in  1908  to  prepare  a  uniform  auto- 
mobile law  for  the  New  England  States  (which  law  has  already  been 
passed  in  substance  by  all  but  one  of  the  New  England  States)  was 
accomplished  largely  through  the  active  interest  and  ardent  coopera- 
tion of  the  officers  of  many  of  the  automobile  associations. 

Mr.  Lewis  R.  Speare  and  the  officers  of  many  automobile  associa- 
tions in  Massachusetts  including  those  representing  dealers,  private 
owners,  tourists  and  chauffeurs,  appeared  publicly  and  advocated  the 
passage  of  these  regulatory  laws  and  the  granting  to  the  highway 
commission  of  these  summary  powers.  They  did  this,  believing  it 
to  be  for  the  best  interest  of  the  road  users  of  the  Commonwealth  of 
Massachusetts  and  believing  that  while  the  automobilists  were 
entitled  to  their  rights  the  pedestrians  and  drivers  of  horse-drawn 
vehicles  were  fully  entitled  to  all  their  rights,  and  that  their  interests 
should  be  carefully  safeguarded. 

MOTOR   VEHICLE    ACCIDENTS 

The  following  tables  of  accidents  which  occurred  in  Massachusetts 
in  1909  and  1910  may  be  of  interest: 

Total  number  deaths,  injuries,  accidents 


1909 

1910 

Killed  

54 

77 

Injured  

989 

963 

Accidents  

1130 

1182 

In  daytime  

826 

867 

After  dark  

304 

315 

On  country  roads 

314 

222 

On  city  or  town  streets  .  . 

816 

960 

MOTOR  TRAFFIC  REGULATION  IN  MASSACHUSETTS  127 

In  ten  months  of  the  year  1911  there  were  1229  such  accidents. 
In  this  connection  it  must  be  remembered  that  in  1909  something 
under  24,000  automobiles  were  registered  in  Massachusetts  and  that 
in  1911  (allowing  only  five  cars  for  each  dealer)  there  were  something 
over  42,000  automobiles  registered.  In  other  words,  the  number  of 
automobiles  using  our  highways  has  increased  hi  that  two  years 
something  over  60  per  cent.  The  number  of  accidents  has  only 
increased  about  10  per  cent. 

CAUSES  OF  ACCIDENTS 

It  may  be  interesting  to  see  what,  in  the  opinion  of  the  commission 
after  careful  investigation  and  report  upon  all  the  evidence  was  the 
cause  of  some  of  the  more  serious  of  these  accidents. 

I  have  made  an  abstract  of  a  few  of  the  more  serious  accidents  for 
ten  months  of  this  year — from  December  1,  1910  to  October  1,  1911, 
as  shown  by  the  following  table: 

Total  number  of  accidents  investigated  and  acted  upon,  278 

Operator  without  fault 110 

Other  party  to  accident  more  to  blame  than  operator,  but  operator 

not  blameless 20 

Operator  more  to  blame  than  other  party  to  accident,  but  latter  at 

fault  also 24 

Operator  entirely  to  blame 114 

Both  operators  equally  to  blame 10 

You  will  note  that  after  a  full  investigation,  involving  a  statement 
taken  from  all  of  the  witnesses  and  a  careful  report  from  our  investi- 
gator and  consideration  by  the  commission,  in  nearly  40  per  cent  of 
all  these  accidents  the  operator  was  not  to  blame. 

In  these  days,  naturally,  we  hear  a  great  deal  about  automobile 
accidents  and  the  reckless  driving  of  automobile  operators.  Certainly 
there  is  altogether  too  much  reckless  operation  and  altogether  too 
many  drunken  careless,  operators  are  allowed  upon  the  road  and  there 
are  altogether  too  many  joy  rides.  I  have  outlined  above  what  we 
are  doing  in  Massachusetts  in  our  attempt —  and  it  is  a  serious  attempt 
to  eliminate  such  operation. 


128  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

COOPERATION  WITH  AUTHORITIES  IN  OTHER  STATES 

I  feel  sure  that  in  Massachusetts  we  shall  have  in  the  future  as 
we  have  had  in  the  past,  the  active  cooperation  of  and  efficient  help 
of  all  the  officials  and  members  of  our  various  automobile  associations. 

We  are  cooperating  so  far  as  possible  with  the  authorities  in  other 
States  by  sending  to  them  reports  of  the  improper  operation  of  their 
residents  on  the  highways  of  Massachusetts.  As  a  result  of  this  action 
on  our  part  the  authorities  of  our  neighboring  State  have  many  times 
held  hearings  and  suspended  or  revoked  the  licenses  of  their  operators. 
We  are  doing  the  same  whenever  we  receive  evidence  that  one  of  our 
Massachusetts  operators  has  operated  recklessly  or  improperly  in 
any  of  our  sister  States. 

Here,  again,  we  are  having  the  active  cooperation  and  efficient 
support  of  the  officers  of  the  automobile  associations.  More  can 
be  done  and  should  be  done  and  I  can  assure  the  Convention  that  we 
in  Massachusetts  will  do  all  in  our  power  to  ensure  fair  treatment, 
and  even  considerate  and  courteous  treatment  to  all  of  the  users  of 
our  highways  whether  they  are  motorists,  pedestrians  or  drivers  of 
horse-drawn  vehicles. 

I  fell  sure  that  the  authorities  of  Massachusetts  will  cooperate  to 
the  fullest  extent  with  all  associations  and  all  officials  who  are  in- 
terested in  making  our  roads  safe  and  who  will  help  in  taking  off 
of  those  roads  the  drunken,  careless  and  reckless  operator  who  is 
now  doing  so  much  to  injure  the  reputation  of  the  vast  majority  of 
motorists  who  are  not  reckless  and  who  are  considerate  of  the  rights 
of  the  users  of  our  public  highways,  to  the  end  that  we  may  secure 
safe  highways  and  sane  motoring. 

TRAFFIC  RULES  AND  REGULATIONS 

MAJOR  RICHARD  SYLVESTER 

President  International    Police  Association,    Superintendent    Metro- 
politan Police,  District  of  Columbia 

In  these  days  of  strenuous  endeavor,  expedition,  economy,  and 
pleasure  are  the  factors  responsible  for  the  increased  vehicular  energy 
that  is  in  evidence  in  the  great  centers  of  population  and  the  districts 
contiguous  thereto.  It  moves  about  from  place  to  place  in  the 
midst  of  those  who  pedestrianize,  and  the  combination  calls  for  system, 


TRAFFIC  RULES  AND  REGULATIONS  129 

in  order  that  life  and  property  may  be  secured  against  loss  or  injury 
in  the  first  place,  and  to  the  end  that  promptness,  saving  and  comfort 
may  be  afforded  in  the  second  place.  To  these  might  appropriately 
be  added  sightliness,  because  the  systematic  arragement  that  is  free 
from  antiquated  features  carries  with  it  favorable  recognition  if  not 
emulation. 

Pathways  established  and  maintained  by  public  expenditures  con- 
stitute the  avenues,  streets,  roads,  and  highways  over  which  that 
vehicular  energy  is  expended  in  the  transporting  of  passengers  and 
commodities,  and  the  laws,  regulations,  and  rules  made  for  the  guid- 
ance of  those  engaged  in  the  expenditure  have  been  and  are  being 
created  looking  to  the  continued  improvement  of  system. 

HIGHWAYS  OF  ANCIENT  DAYS 

The  degree  of  perfection  in  the  construction  of  avenues,  streets, 
roads  and  highways,  as  well  as  the  degree  of  excellence  in  the  providing 
of  governing  rules  usually  corresponds  to  the  degree  of  intelligence  and 
wealth  of  the  country  wherein  the  same  exist  and  are  controlled. 
Historic  roads  have  had  their  place  since  the  time  of  the  Egyptians  and 
Romans,  and  capitalists  realized  on  turnpikes  before  the  introduc- 
tions of  railroads.  The  utilizing  of  the  horse  as  a  motive  power  sug- 
gested the  building  of  ways  so  graded  as  to  permit  of  the  drawing  of 
three-fourths,  halves,  or  quarter  loads,  and  prompted  consideration 
of  the  grades  over  which  a  horse  could  trot  with  safety,  but,  since  the 
advent  of  the  motor  vehicle  with  its  high  power  these  questions  have 
been  followed  by  others;  wear  and  tear  of  surfaces,  and  speed  and  safety 
becoming  principal  features  for  study  and  skill.  These  have  all  the 
more  been  made  requirements  because  of  the  vast  increase  in  the 
number  of  such  vehicles  over  the  slower  horse-moving  kind. 

While  this  is  true,  the  animal-propelled  method  still  prevails  and 
it  will  doubtless  be  some  years  before  it  is  entirely  eliminated. 
Such  being  the  case,  it  makes  the  work  of  providing  laws  and  reg- 
ulations for  the  guidance  and  restraint  of  traffic  all  the  more  com- 
plicated and  arduous.  Furthermore,  the  pedestrian  is  a  prominent 
factor  whose  rights  must  be  protected. 

ALWAYS  TURN  TO  RIGHT 

While  the  well-established  rule  of  the  road,  to  always  turn  to  the 
right  when  one  vehicle  passes  another,  maintains  generally,  it  is  not 


130  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

so  true  in  practice  on  the  part  of  the  pedestrian,  though  it  should 
equally  apply. 

It  has  been  held  by  leading  authorities  and  in  some  smart  munici- 
palties  that,  for  the  purpose  of  effecting  a  complete  system  of  traffic, 
equestrians,  led  horses,  and  everything  on  wheels  or  runners,  except 
street  cars  and  baby  carriages,  should  be  regarded  as  vehicles,  and 
that  the  word  "horses"  should  include  all  domestic  animals.  So 
far  as  standard  rules  are  concerned,  a  community  might  be  so  enthusi- 
astic and  enterprising  as  to  acquiesce  in  this  procedure,  while,  if  it 
were  left  to  the  opinion  of  some  of  the  judicial  minds,  it  might  be 
adjudged  inconsistent,  so  far  as  horses  being  led  are  concerned. 

It  goes  without  saying  that  the  authority  charged  with  making  the 
laws  and  regulations  for  control  of  vehicular  traffic  in  cities  should 
not  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  there  is  a  gradual  elimination  of  horse- 
drawn  and  a  rapid  increase  of  the  motor  vehicle,  and  this  being 
accepted,  conditions  will  have  so  changed  in  a  period  of  time  as  to 
warrant  a  modification  in  restriction  and  other  respects.  The  with- 
drawal of  the  horse,  education  of  drivers  and  pedestrians,  improve- 
ment in  machines,  skill  in  handling,  and  demands  for  expedition  in 
transit  will  necessitate  it. 

LAWS   MUST   BE    ENFORCED 

Right  here,  however,  it  may  be  stated  that  no  matter  how  near 
model  the  laws  and  regulations  may  be  in  a  given  locality,  the  same  will 
not  prevail  unless  that  community  has  been  fully  enlightened  on  the 
subject  and  has  a  police  force  sufficiently  informed  and  courageous  to 
enforce  the  same  without  fear  or  favor.  I  do  not  mean  that  harshness 
or  persecution  should  follow,  but  warnings  and  prosecution,  to  the 
end  that  respect  for  the  laws  and  regulations  may  be  obtained. 

Along  these  lines  education  should  follow,  and  first,  in  order  to  reach 
those  concerned,  proper  signboards  should  direct  as  to  the  speed  limit, 
where  and  when  to  slow  down,  keep  to  the  right,  to  the  left  as  near  the 
curb  as  possible  in  plain,  bold  letters,  along  roadways  and  in  sections 
where  the  display  of  warnings  is  important.  In  prominent  positions, 
attractive  to  the  public,  the  laws  and  regulations  should  be  appro- 
priately fixed  so  as  to  catch  the  driver's  eye.  In  addition  to  this, 
there  should  be  distributed  to  pedestrians  and  drivers  in  every  city,  as 
well  as  to  all  owners  and  operators  of  vehicles,  through  the  police, 
with  a  surplus  at  station  houses  for  those  who  might  desire  them, 
printed  copies,  in  pamphlet  form,  of  the  laws  and  regulations  as  might 


TRAFFIC  RULES  AND  REGULATIONS  131 

be  adopted.  This  independent  of  any  similar  action  automobile 
clubs  or  other  might  take  looking  to  the  advice  and  protection  of 
themselves  and  the  public. 

MOTORMEN  ALSO  MUST  HEED 

Street  railway  motormen  should  be  required  to  conform  to  the 
orders  of  the  constituted  authorities  at  intersecting  streets,  dangerous 
corners  and  turns,  at  fire-engine  crossings,  and  to  all  laws  relating  to 
speed  and  the  taking  on  or  letting  off  of  passengers.  Particularly  at 
intersecting  streets  should  they  be  compelled  to  cooperate  in  facilitat- 
ing the  movement  of  vehicular  traffic  so  as  not  to  impede  or  obstruct 
the  passage  of  vehicles  directed  by  the  police  officers  assigned  to  such 
duty.  Vehicles  should  move  in  line  on  right  and  left  on  congested 
thoroughfares  and  not  break  too  far  to  one  side  or  the  other  in  moving 
so  as  to  confuse,  complicate,  or  obstruct. 

Dealing  with  the  subj  ect  of  regulations  as  applicable  to  municipalities, 
it  occurs  to  those  who  have  given  the  same  close  observaton  and  study 
that  any  code  which  might  be  adopted  should,  by  way  of  introduction, 
contain  explicit  information  as  to  any  of  the  terms  therein  employed, 
to  the  end  that  the  intent  of  the  makers  might  be  readily  understood. 
The  word  "drivers"  could,  for  instance,  be  properly  recited  to  include 
not  only  riders  and  drivers  of  vehicles,  but  the  riders  of  bicycles  and 
operators  of  motor  vehicles  and  street  cars,  who  should  at  all  times 
comply  with  the  directions  of  any  member  of  the  police  force  as 
afforded  by  voice  of  hand  as  to  starting,  stopping,  or  approaching  any 
place,  and  as  to  taking  on  and  delivering  passengers  or  commodities, 
and  ignorance  of  the  rules  should  be  no  excuse  for  their  being  disre- 
garded. 

It  should  be  required  that  all  drivers  of  vehicles  not  only  comply 
with  the  regulations,  but  they  should  be  urged  to  cooperate  with  the 
police  in  instructing  others  in  order  to  prevent  congestion  and  acci- 
dents and  to  decrease  financial  loss  through  nonobservance  of  the 
requirements.  Complaints  against  drivers  should  be  made  to  any 
police  officer  or  at  a  police  station. 

KEEP  CLOSE  TO  CURB 

That  heavily  loaded,  slow-moving  vehicles  should  keep  as  close  to 
the  right-hand  curb  as  possible  is  important,  and  a  vehicle  passing 
another  moving  in  the  same  direction  should  always  do  so  to  the  left. 


132  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

The  turning  of  corners  to  the  right  along  the  immediate  line  of  the 
curb  has  one  drawback  at  least,  in  this,  that  if  a  regulation  prevails 
that  all  heavy  vehicles  shall  keep  as  near  the  right-hand  curb  as  prac- 
ticable, in  so  doing  it  would  immediately  place  the  lighter  vehicles 
while  proceeding  after  the  turn,  in  the  same  category  as  the  heavy, 
and  for  this  reason,  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  the  regulation  on  the 
subject  makes  it  obligatory  in  turning  corners  to  the  right  to  keep  to 
the  right  center  of  the  street  and  police  experience  in  that  jurisdiction 
would  justify  such  regulation;  while  in  turning  corners  to  the  left, 
into  an  intersecting  street,  the  rule  demands  that  a  vehicle  shall  move 
so  as  to  leave  sufficient  clear  space  between  itself  and  the  left-hand 
curb  as  to  permit  the  safe  passage  of  another  vehicle.  In  these  matters 
of  turns  and  in  crossing  from  one  side  of  the  street  to  the  other,  it 
is  in  keeping  with  good  policy  to  illustrate  the  same  in  all  printed 
instructions  or  codifications  with  diagrams,  showing  the  legal  mode 
of  procedure. 

While  on  this  subject,  it  might  be  advanced  that  there  is  no  greater 
unsightliness  in  a. well-regulated  city  otherwise  than  that  presented  by 
a  co-mingling  of  all  characters  of  vehicles  in  the  volume  of  movement 
that  proceeds  to  the  right  or  approaches  to  the  left.  The  city  of 
Washington,  it  is  to  be  regretted,  has  not  advanced  to  that  stage  in 
the  matter  of  traffic  where  heavy,  slow-moving  vehicles  always  pro- 
ceed along  to  the  right-hand  side  as  near  to  the  curb  as  possible  in 
single  column,  as  they  should,  and  where  lighter  horse-drawn  vehicles 
move  next  in  column  to  the  left,  and  motor-propelled  vehicles  form 
a  column  a  distance  farther  to  the  left,  forming  lines  of  circulation 
according  to  the  character  of  conveyance. 

KEEP    CLEAR    OF    TRUCKS 

Avenues  and  streets  given  up  to  the  retail  trade,  including  the 
shopping  districts  particularly,  should  be  clear  of  large  trucks  haul- 
ing merchandise,  wagons  transporting  hay,  garbage,  and  ashes,  and 
other  unsightly  loads  of  refuse.  These  should  be  assigned  to  nearby 
thoroughfares  more  suitably  adapted  to  commercial  purposes. 

Every  city  having  in  view  a  favorable  reputation  in  traffic  regulations 
must  today  make  provision  against  excessive  emission  of  smoke  and 
gases  from  automobiles,  if  not  from  different  sources,  that  would  be 
offensive  to  pedestrians  and  others  patronizing  its  public  ways,  and 
should  be  just  as  diligent  in  suppressing  uncalled-for  noises  from  run- 


TRAFFIC  RULES  AND  REGULATIONS  133 

ning  engines  after  motor  conveyances  have  stopped  and  other  unnec- 
essary mechanical  noises  when  moving,  as  well  as  the  rattling  of  milk 
cans  at  early  hours  of  the  morning  by  indifferent  drivers  of  horse- 
drawn  vehicles.  Dense  and  prolonged  smoke  or  noises  should  be 
placed  under  the  ban  through  proper  authoritative  enactment.  Vehi- 
cles moving  north  and  south  always  should  be  accorded  the  right  of 
way. 

Circles  and  triangles  mark  the  converging  points  of  avenues  and 
streets  in  many  cities,  and  the  disposition  to  make  short  cuts  about 
these  places  is  in  evidence  and  can  only  be  overcome  by  vehicles 
being  compelled  to  follow  nearest  the  right  side  curb.  The  danger 
incident  to  one  vehicle  following  upon  another  too  closely,  should 
the  leading  one  come  to  a  sudden  stop  through  any  cause,  suggests 
requiring  a  distance  intervening  of  at  least  fifteen  feet,  including  ani- 
mals where  driven,  and  drivers  should  always  be  upon  the  seats  of 
wagons  and  carriages  or  in  control  of  the  horse  or  horses  drawing  the 
same.  The  standing  or  driving  of  vehicles  of  any  kind,  two  abreast, 
on  either  side  of  a  public  thoroughfare  should  not  be  permitted,  if 
there  be  space  for  avoidance,  and  under  no  circumstances  along 
streets  having  double  lines  of  railway  tracks. 

DANGER  OF  BACKING  UP 

Those  of  you  who  have  had  experience  in  cities  have  some  idea  of 
the  difficulties  that  follow  the  backing  of  vehicles  to  the  curb,  although 
trade  makes  it  necessary  that  such  should  follow  in  commercial  dis- 
tircts.  Be  this  as  it  may,  no  vehicles  should  be  permitted  to  stand 
backed  up  to  the  curb  except  when  actually  loading  or  unloading, 
and,  if  horse-drawn  and  having  four  wheels,  the  animals  should  be 
made  to  stand  so  as  to  face  in  the  direction  of  traffic,  but  no  vehicle 
should  under  these  conditions  be  privileged  to  interrupt  the  passage 
of  other  vehicles  or  street  cars.  Freedom  of  avenues  and  streets 
from  obstructions  should  prompt  regulations  against  any  vehicle 
stopping  on  the  same  except  in  emergency  or  in  order  to  allow  another 
vehicle  or  pedestrian  to  cross  the  roadway. 

The  important  purpose  in  traffic  regulation  being  to  adjust  matters 
so  as  to  keep  vehicles  going  and  coming  without  friction,  the  manner 
of  turning  around  is  one  that  should  be  defined  to  be  done  without 
interfering  with  other  vehicles  even  if  necessitating  the  driving  around 
a  block  for  the  purpose.  This,  on  the  principle  that  one  small  item 


134  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

should  suffer  brief  loss  in  time  rather  than  jeopardize  or  delay  the 
volume  of  traffic  movement. 

There  have  been  involved  in  the  rules  of  traffic  in  large  cities, 
beginning  with  New  York,  those  requiring  that  a  driver  shall  sig- 
nal when  slowing  up,  stopping,  turning,  or  backing,  by  raising  the 
whip  or  hand,  or,  otherwise  indicating  with  the  hand  the  direction 
that  to  is  be  taken.  While  not  generally  enforced,  the  rules  deserve 
an  emphatic  favorable  indorsement. 

PENALTY  FOR  COLLISIONS 

One  of  the  most  effective  and  far-reaching  regulations  is  that  of 
the  District  of  Columbia  prescribing  a  penalty  for  colliding.  While 
in  Paris,  the  individual,  under  the  law,  must  avoid  being  struck, 
and  while  in  many  municipalities  in  this  country  vehicles  are  required 
to  stop  when  the  cars  do  so,  in  order  to  avoid  possible  colliding  with 
passengers  alighting  therefrom,  the  District  ordinances  provide  against 
the  driving  or  operating  of  a  vehicle  so  as  to  carelessly  or  willfully 
collide  with  another  vehicle  of  any  kind  or  any  person  and  affords 
opportunity  when  violated  for  criminal  and  civil  action. 

Exceptions  are  made  in  some  cities,  and  properly  so,  extending  right 
of  way  to  vehicles  of  the  post-office,  police,  fire,  and  health  departments 
and  to  physicians  in  emergency  cases,  and  their  running  is  accom- 
panied by  warning  by  appropriate  gong  alarm. 

While  traffic  police  signals,  made  by  the  blowing  of  "  police  calls, " 
is  in  effect  as  a  directing  feature  for  control  of  traffic;  so  far  as  the 
method  is  concerned,  its  adoption  might  lead  to  trouble  if  it  is  of  a 
character  to  be  compared  with  the  police  "call  of  distress."  This 
feature  can  be  obviated  by  the  use  of  a  dissimilar  alarm  to  those  in 
general  use  for  police  purposes. 

In  cities,  all  vehicles  should  be  required  to  carry  lights  and  all 
business  conveyances  should  be  numbered.  The  need  for  such  regu- 
lation is  at  once  obvious.  Criticism  can  also  be  justly  made  in  this 
connection  against  too  bright  and  dazzling  headlights  on  motor 
vehicles  in  congested  districts  as  well  as  against  the  frequent  failure 
to  throw  sufficient  light  upon  license  numbers  of  automobiles  any- 
where and  everywhere. 


TRAFFIC  RULES  AND  REGULATIONS  135 

GONGS  ARE  NECESSARY 

Equally  necessary  are  the  sound  signals  on  motor  conveyances, 
and  they  should  be  of  a  kind  as  near  in  accord  as  possible,  and  their 
use  avoided  for  announcing  "the  machine  is  in  waiting"  and  for 
similar  puropses. 

Enactment  that  street  cars  shall  have  the  right  of  way  upon  their 
respective  tracks,  except  when  necessarily  interrupted  by  the  vehicles 
of  the  post-office,  police,  fire,  health  department,  and  those  of  funeral 
processions,  should  prevail,  and  there  should  be  provision  against  any 
vehicle  or  street  car  unnecessarily  obstructing  the  free  passageway  of 
any  avenue  or  street,  or  causing  hindrance  or  delay. 

Waiting  vehicles  should  stop  with  their  right  wheels  at  the  curb, 
and  not  remain  there  so  as  to  prevent  the  approach  of  others  to  let 
off  occupants,  and  in  congested  commercial  districts  provision  should 
be  made  for  parking  of  carriages  or  machines  in  waiting. 

This  leads  up  to  the  proposition  of  the  establishement  of  public 
squares  or  garages  for  parking  purposes.  The  providing  of  fire  runs, 
particularly  over  certain  streets,  should  make  the  stopping  of  street 
railway  cars  where  their  tracks  intersect  with  another  street  a  pre- 
caution to  be  taken  while  the  sounding  of  fire  alarms  should  bring  all 
cars  within  hearing  to  a  standstill  before  making  immediate  crossing. 

HORSES  SHOULD  BE  HITCHED 

Horses  left  unhitched  or  unbitted  in  the  street  have  not  only  caused 
hundreds  of  accidents,  but  have  cost  many  lives,  and  every  munici- 
pality should  prohibit  such  risk  and  carelessness,  for  there  are  times 
when  the  safest  horse  will  surprise  its  owner. 

Repairs  to  vehicles  in  the  public  streets  is  a  dangerous  practice 
unless  the  horse  attached  is  first  removed  from  it,  and  the  rules  of  the 
road  should  not  only  make  it  unlawful  for  the  motor  driver  to  conduct 
his  charge  if  he  is  under  influence  of  liquor,  but  all  drivers  should  be 
compelled  by  law  to  have  their  horses  or  vehicles  under  complete 
control  at  all  times.  The  clear  and  unobstructed  view  to  right  or  left 
from  covered  vehicles,  condemnation  of  unsafe  and  insanitary  vehicles, 
provisions  against  coasting  or  use  of  sleds  in  the  public  avenues  and 
streets,  unsightly  or  temporary  paper  or  cloth  advertising  on  vehicles, 
the  protruding  of  material  in  transportation  to  a  dangerous  extent 
beyond  the  rear  of  the  axle,  the  driving  of  horse-drawn  or  motor 


136  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

vehicles  by  children,  minors  not  passengers  hanging  on  street  cars 
or  other  vehicles,  the  humane  treatment  of  horses — are  subjects  for 
regulation. 

Uniformity  in  movement  by  all  classes  of  conveyances,  is  what 
makes  for  traffic  system.  So  long  as  one  speed  allowance  is  made  for 
street  cars,  another  for  motor  vehicles,  and  still  another  for  horse- 
drawn  vehicles,  either  by  law  or  by  direction  under  equal  privileges 
extended  by  law,  just  so  long  will  there  be  want  of  system. 

SPEED  ZONES  IN  CITIES 

It  is  believed  that  the  fixing  of  speed  zones  in  larger  cities  is  the  most 
equitable  arrangement.  In  recognition  of  the  danger  that  attaches 
to  the  train  on  a  railroad  track  moving  through  congested  localities, 
its  speed  is  reduced  to  six  and  eight  miles  an  hour,  while  in  the  heart 
of  congestion  and  off  a  track,  many  motor  engines  run  twenty  to 
thirty  miles. 

In  the  trade,  theatrical,  and  hotel  centers,  motor  and  other  vehicles 
should  move  at  an  average  minimum  motor  speed,  in  fairness  to  the 
horse  and  pedestrian,  while  an  adjoining  zone,  free  from  congestion, 
could  afford  greater  latitude  to  the  drivers  with  reduction  at  inter- 
secting streets,  and  a  zone  still  beyond  offer  still  greater  freedom  of 
movement. 

The  day  has  not  arrived,  unfortunately,  when  operators  of  motor 
vehicles  in  cities  will  fully  cooperate  with  the  authorities  in  support 
of  laws  and  regulations  governing  the  conduct  of  their  machines,  and, 
so  long  as  they  make  no  effort  to  show  that  existing  laws  are  unjust, 
they  accept  them  as  just  by  acquiescence  and  should  support  them. 
They  should  cooperate  in  securing  reasonable  laws  and  regulations, 
and  in  all  such  endeavor  there  must  be  some  sacrifices  on  both  sides. 
So  should  those  who  drive  and  ride  horses  and  walk  join  not  only  in 
the  adoption  of  sufficient  laws  and  regulations,  but  they  should  aid 
in  their  enforcement.  Under  such  cooperation  the  least  differences 
and  most  satisfaction  will  follow. 

REGULATING  STREET  CARS 

Before  considering  the  management  of  traffic  by  the  police,  or  other 
authority,  it  might  be  in  place  briefly  to  summarize  subjects  concern- 
ing the  conducting  of  street  railway  cars  in  cities  in  the  interest  of  the 
public.  They  should  be  regulated  to  the  end  that  warnings  should 


TRAFFIC  RULES  AND  REGULATIONS  137 

be  sounded  at  all  crossings,  and  the  standing  or  storage  of  cars  on  well 
patronized  streets,  except  for  the  moving  of  unusual  demands  for 
passage,  should  be  prohibited.  The  crossing  of  a  car  in  one  direction 
before  the  car  crossing  in  an  opposite  direction  at  the  same  intersec- 
tion has  cleared  is  dangerous,  in  that  unobscured  observation  is  pre- 
vented, and  a  car  following  immediately  upon  the  preceding  car  is 
obstructional  and  ill-timed.  The  failure  of  motormen  to  stop  their 
cars  for  waiting  patrons  is  too  frequently  a  practice  without  good 
grounds  for  excuse  and  should  be  lawfully  discouraged.  The  calling 
of  streets  and  stops  by  conductors  should  never  be  neglected,  and  the 
continuous  overloading  of  street  cars  is  dangerous,  insanitary,  and 
unjust.  Dangling  chains,  squeaking  brakes,  and  flat  wheels  are  con- 
ditions that  should  not  be  allowed  to  exist  in  a  well-regulated  city. 
After  making  observations  in  London,  Paris,  and  in  other  European 
cities,  Captain  Alexander  R.  Piper,  U.  S.  A.,  retired,  former  police 
commissioner  in  charge  of  street  traffic  in  New  York,  instituted  a 
work  in  that  great  city,  in  which  the  foot  and  mounted  police  were 
utilized,  which  has  received  the  highest  commendation  from  all 
interested  sources.  The  undertaking  consisted  in  the  adoption  of 
what  is  known  as  the  block  system,  which  did  away  with  former 
indiscriminate  methods,  and  which  was  followed  by  greater  regularity 
in  movements  and  alternate  crossings  at  intersections  by  vehicles. 


The  education  of  owners  and  drivers  in  conformity  with  the  inno- 
vation called  for  rules  and  their  dissemination,  and  the  commissioner 
was  afforded  support  in  their  formation,  under  adverse  circumstances, 
by  William  Phelps  Eno,  a  gentleman  of  culture  and  means,  and  an 
enthusiast  on  the  subject  of  street  traffic.  This  was  in  1900-1903. 
The  splendid  beginning  had  in  the  busy  metropolis  steadily  advanced 
under  the  guidance  of  Commissioner  Bugher,  of  the  same  department, 
and  that  great  whirlpool  of  social  life  and  commercialism  today  is 
said  to  excell  the  orginal  standard,  London,  in  respect  to  traffic 
control. 

The  action  of  the  New  York  authorities  prompted  renewed  activity 
on  the  part  of  other  municipalities  in  the  matter  of  systematic  conduct 
of  moving  vehicles,  and  Washington,  St.  Louis,  Chicago,  Detroit, 
Louisville,  and  cities  of  lesser  population  were  forward  in  making 
endeavor  to  improve  upon  inferior  methods.  Not  only  were  modern 


138  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

rules  of  the  road  authorized,  and  the  police  and  public  informed  in 
accordance  with  them,  but  specially  selected  members  of  the  police 
forces  were  assigned  to  these  important  duties.  In  many  j  urisdictions 
the  effectiveness  of  the  control  is  somewhat  lessened  by  the  inadequacy 
of  the  police  forces  numerically.  Where  the  area  of  jurisdiction  is 
extensive  and  the  demands  for  general  purposes  are  such  as  to  require 
an  elaborate  disposal  of  the  units  of  protection,  there  necessarily 
follows  a  minimum  detail  for  traffic  duty. 

POLICE  MUST  BE  ALERT 

Where  ignorance  and  indifference  on  the  part  of  drivers  is  extant 
and  the  police  deficiency  exists,  there  will  follow  not  only  a  want 
of  education  as  to  the  laws  and  regulations,  but  a  consequent  nonob- 
servance  of  them  on  the  principle  that  a  policeman  out  of  sight  is 
out  of  mind.  Inadequacy  in  police  numbers  is,  in  a  measure,  over- 
come by  the  employment  of  bicycle  and  motorcycle  mounts,  although 
directing  capacity  is  largely  diminished  if  he  must  at  the  same  time 
care  for  his  wheel. 

No  city,  perhaps,  presents  the  extensive  area  of  surface  for  travel 
and  control  as  does  that  of  Washington,  where  avenues  180  feet  in 
width  converge  or  intersect  with  streets  80  feet  in  width.  Such  con- 
vergings  call  for  the  service  of  three  officers  to  creditably  protect  and 
direct  at  congested  places,  and  with  a  limited  police  force  protecting 
nearly  7  square  miles  of  settled  territory  the  difficulties  to  be  encount- 
ered are  at  once  apparent. 

The  speed  law  is  strictly  enforced  by  a  bicycle  corps  of  sixty  police- 
men, divided  into  two  divisions  for  service  in  a  period  of  sixteen  hours, 
except  that  ten  of  these  are  held  at  station  houses  as  reserves  for 
emergency  calls.  These  men  are  mounted  on  bicycles  of  uniform  design 
and  attached  thereto  are  speedometers,  which  are  tested  as  to  their 
accuracy  once  a  month.  On  the  reading  of  these  instruments  the 
courts  base  their  decisions  as  to  speed  law  violations.  Some  idea  of 
the  accomplishments  of  this  magnificent  body  of  civic  guardians 
may  be  had  when  it  is  known  that  the  fines  in  court,  the  result  of  their 
efforts,  aggregate  from  $30,000  to  $40,000  a  year  in  a  jurisdiction 
including  about  350,000  people. 

These  bicycle  men  are  instructed  to  enforce  the  laws  and  regulations 
against  the  horse-drawn  and  motor  vehicle  alike  and  rarely  is  com- 
plaint made  as  to  their  methods  or  conduct .  Where  warnings  are  given 
to  drivers  by  members  of  this  corps  or  arrests  are  made,  the  officers 


TRAFFIC  RULES  AND  REGULATIONS  139 

are  required  to  fill  out  cards  for  file  at  their  respective  stations  whereon 
is  noted  the  name  of  the  driver,  license  number,  number  of  vehicle, 
date  and  time,  location,  disposition  of  the  case,  kind  of  vehicle,  and 
name  of  owner.  These  cards  are  forwarded  to  police  headquarters, 
and  there  they  are  preserved.  The  record  of  any  driver  may  in  this 
wise  be  consulted  at  any  time  and,  if  shown  guilty  of  two  or  more 
offenses  in  one  year,  a  jail  sentence  may  follow  under  the  law. 

In  this  connection  it  might  be  stated  that  motorcycles  and  bicycles 
builded  for  one  may  not  be  ridden  by  two. 

Besides  the  bicycle  corps,  six  members  of  the  force  are  detailed  on 
motorcycles  for  duty  over  the  improved  outlying  roadways. 

Police  orders  to  the  force  employed  are  regarded  as  reasonable  and 
read,  in  part  as  follows: 

A  respectful,  calm,  courteous  demeanor  should  mark  the  attention  of  the 
members  of  the  force  in  all  cases,  and  an  avoidance  be  had  of  anything  having 
the  appearance  of  persecution.  The  same  close  attention  should  be  accorded 
to  vehicles  moved  by  animals  as  is  given  to  vehicles  moved  by  other  power. 
Careless,  reckless,  inattentive  drivers  are  causes  for  complaint  and  are  fre- 
quently responsible  for  accidents  and  injuries. 

REASONABLE   REGULATIONS  URGED 

It  was  the  expression  of  Congress  that  reasonable  regulations  should  be 
enacted  for  the  government  and  control  of  all  kinds  of  vehicular  traffic  in  the 
District  of  Columbia,  and  it  is  believed  that  the  laws  relating  to  the  movement 
of  vehicles  were  not  intended  to  make  travel  a  hardship,  except  so  far  as  indif- 
ferent or  irresponsible  persons  might  make  it  so  for  themselves.  But  to  insure 
a  proper  enforcement  of  all  requirements,  as  heretofore  directed,  and  in  order 
to  insure  uniformity  of  action,  members  of  the  force  will  observe  that  the  laws 
relating  to  turning  of  corners,  crossing  at  intersecting  streets,  at  certain  pre- 
scribed locations  where  pedestrians  congregate,  in  the  parks,  on  the  streets 
within  the  fire  limits,  and  in  the  suburbs  beyond,  for  all  of  which  places  distinct 
rates  of  speed  are  prescribed,  are  enforced.  There  are  times  when  the  good 
and  law-abiding  citizen  may,  through  inability  to  control  to  a  fraction,  place 
himself  at  the  mercy  of  the  police  technically,  when  discretion  would  prompt 
a  warning,  and  when  the  rear  light,  unobserved  would  be  jolted  out  and  the 
warm  lamp  would  indicate  that  it  had  been  burning,  and  where  warning  against 
repetition  would  serve  a  good  purpose. 

At  times  there  is  possibility  of  a  few  drops  of  oil  escaping,  when  a  suggestion 
might  remedy  the  situation;  but  where  layers,  pools,  or  puddles  of  oil  are 
allowed  to  waste  on  the  streets  the  regulation  should  be  invoked.  In  the 
vicinity  of  hotels  and  other  public  places  motor  vehicle  stands  should  be  kept 
free  from  leaking  oil  at  all  times,  because  it  is  a  special  privilege  and  there 
follows  accumulation.  Excess  of  grease  on  car  curves  should  be  regarded  as 
a  clear  violation  of  the  regulations,  and  appropriate  action  should  be  taken. 


140 


AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 


NUMBER   OF   ACCIDENTS 


It  might  be  interesting  to  note  the  number  of  vehicle  accidents  of  all  kinds, 
big  and  little,  important  and  unimportant,  that  occurred  in  the  District  of 
Columbia  for  the  year  that  ended  June  30,  1911 : 


J3 

a 

H  ^ 

o 

ACCIDENTS 

g 

0 

M 

Q 

w  K 

9 

§ 

0 

B 

o  *"* 

i 

jij 

§ 

9 

R 

£" 

0 

X 

g 

Bicycle                               

1 

30 

119 

151 

35 

21 

206 

Motor  vehicle 

7 

64 

171 

262 

303 

55 

600 

Steam  railway 

9 

13 

10 

33 

4 

36 

Street  railway.          

18 

96 

373 

501 

256 

167 

910 

Other  kinds         .  . 

3 

65 

206 

287 

324 

63 

661 

Totals  

38 

268 

879 

1234 

922 

306 

2413 

In  the  shopping  districts  of  commercial  cities,  and  Washington 
is  not  classified  as  a  manufacturing  or  wholesale  center,  there  is  neces- 
sity for  street  traffic  regulations  at  intersecting  streets  during  all 
daylight  hours,  and  a  police  officer  of  intelligence,  properly  instructed, 
can  control  an  informed  driving  public.  During  rush  hours,  it  is 
important  to  increase  the  detail  at  such  points  to  two,  three,  or  even 
four  men  in  the  larger  cities,  their  work  to  be  supplemented  by  mounted 
officers,  who  can  readily  be  observed  at  a  distance,  and  who  should 
patrol  and  arrange  vehicles  in  lines.  A  section  of  north  and  south 
lines  of  vehicles  may  be  allowed  to  cross  intersections,  to  be  followed 
by  their  blocking  when  the  east  and  west  lines  may  be  directed  to 
move,  they  in  turn  to  be  blocked.  Thus  alternating  confusion  will  be 
avoided  and  pedestrians  afforded  intervals  to  proceed.  These  cross- 
ing movements  should  be  made  at  minimum  or  cautious  speed. 


SPECIAL  FAVOR  SHOWN 

The  law  has  held  that  hotel  owners  have  the  right  to  maintain  their 
private  vehicles  at  stands  contiguous  to  their  property,  not  to  be 
employed,  however,  by  the  general  public,  but  by  the  hotel  guests, 
through  the  hotel  agencies.  Drivers  of  public  vehicles  should  be 
granted  licenses  after  their  application  for  such  has  had  the  approval 
of  the  police  authorities,  such  licenses  to  be  revoked  for  any  wanton 
violation  of  the  laws  and  regulations.  Rates  of  charges  for  patrons 


TRAFFIC  RULES  AND  REGULATIONS  141 

should  be  under  the  observation  of  the  patrons  by  night  or  day, 
and  the  number  of  the  vehicle  should  be  plainly  set  forth  at  all 
times.  Taximeters  on  cabs  should  be  tested  at  intervals  and  sealed 
under  signature  and  for  all  kinds  of  public  vehicles,  including  "sight- 
seeing" automobiles,  public  stands  should  be  established.  The 
sanitary  and  secure  condition  of  public  vehicles  should  be  inspected 
at  intervals,  and  condemnation  follow  when  warranted,  the  soliciting 
of  trade  and  needless  perambulating  of  these  vehicles  should  be  a 
violation  of  the  law  and  respectful  conduct  on  the  part  of  drivers  be 
a  prime  requisite.  Severe  penalty  should  follow  failure  to  return 
articles  lost  or  mislaid  by  passengers. 

One  more  subject  suggests  itself  for  discussion,  and  I  have  done. 
Vehicles  on  attendance  at  theaters  and  public  assemblages,  should 
be  parked  so  as  to  approach  to  the  right  as  called,  and  in  these  days 
of  improved  mechanical  devices  the  electric  call  and  megaphone, 
even  if  attended  by  relay  calls,  should  operate  against  confusion. 
Vehicles  should  not  be  parked  to  the  left,  necessitating  the  crossing  of 
the  street  to  the  right  in  response  to  calls,  and  they  should  not  approach 
in  double  line.  This  is  very  important  upon  roadways  which  have 
railway  tracks. 

PERMITS  TO  PARADES 

As  to  the  conduct  of  large  parades,  the  city  of  Washington,  at  the 
suggestion  of  the  police  department,  some  years  ago,  adopted  a  per- 
manent roping  device  for  guarding  against  encroachment  by  the 
pedestrian  crowds  upon  the  parade  grounds.  Iron  sockets  were 
placed  beneath  the  surface  at  intervals  of  fifty  feet  along  the  curb,  in 
upright  position,  with  lids  for  covering  when  not  in  use.  Into  these 
two  or  three  inch  sockets,  close  fitting  iron  pipes,  a  degree  less  in  diam- 
eter, are  inserted  so  as  to  stand  about  four  feet  higher  than  the  curb, 
and  on  the  upper  end  of  these  upright  pipings  is  an  iron  loop  through 
which  a  wire  cable  is  passed,  extending  from  intersecting  to  intersect- 
ing street.  At  the  intersecting  streets  manila  rope  loops  are  main- 
tained during  the  time  of  parade,  and  all  traffic  is  thus  diverted  to 
other  thoroughfares,  while  behind  the  cable  the  crowds  are  held  upon 
sidewalks.  This  simple  contrivance  is  worth  hundreds  of  policemen 
on  occasions,  and  the  silent  cable  cannot  argue  or  talk  back — thus 
saving  the  lodgment  of  charges  against  members  of  the  force. 

The  arranging  of  regulations  for  traffic  in  cities  is  an  undertaking 
calling  for  knowledge  and  consideration  of  existing  and  continually 


142  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

arising  questions,  and  in  one  community  there  are  conditions  which  do 
not  belong  to  another,  so  that  so  far  as  setting  forth  suggestions  on  this 
important  subject  is  concerned  the  many  different  ones  cannot  well 
be  presented.  I  have  endeavored  to  discuss  those  prominent  most 
anywhere  in  as  concrete  form  as  possible. 

RELATION  OF  THE  AUTOMOBILE  INDUSTRY  TO  THE 
GOOD  ROADS  MOVEMENT 

HUGH  CHALMERS 
President  Chalmers  Motor  Company 

There  isn't  any  use  taking  time  to  argue  about  the  advisability 
of  good  roads.  Everyone  knows  that  we  haven't  got  them  to  any 
great  degree  in  this  country,  and  every  one  admits  that  we  need  them. 
All  efforts,  therefore,  should  be  bent  to  finding  ways  of  how  to  get 
them. 

The  automobile  industry  is,  of  course,  in  favor  of  good  roads  and 
would  be  greatly  benefited  by  them,  especially  in  the  winter  months. 
If  we  had  the  roads  all  over  the  middle  west,  for  instance,  that  they 
have  in  Massachusetts,  not  to  speak  of  European  countries,  our  busi- 
ness would  be  much  steadier  through  the  bad  weather  months  than  at 
present.  It  would  mean  keeping  our  factories  going  full  tilt  the  year 
'round  and  would  mean  a  steady  all-the-year-'round  business,  instead 
of  a  seasonal  business  such  as  we  have  now. 

However,  the  automobile  industry  is  not  the  only  industry  that  would 
benefit  from  good  roads.  It  is  the  experience  of  all  the  countries 
who  have  built  good  roads,  that  good  roads  benefit  all  the  people 
alike,  and  there  is  no  one  single  thing  that  a  State  or  nation  can  do 
that  is  such  a  sure  and  impartial  benefit  to  all  the  people  as  to  build 
good  roads. 

Farmers,  perhaps,  more  than  any  other  one  class,  benefit  from  good 
roads.  They  use  the  roads  more  in  their  business. 

John  Wesley  a  long  time  ago  said  that  he  had  noticed  that  the  farmers 
who  lived  along  good  roads  were  uniformly  prosperous,  while  those 
who  lived  along  poor  roads  were  almost  as  uniformly  poor  themselves. 

You  can  notice  this  same  condition  as  you  go  through  the  country. 
Follow  the  main  highways  that  have  been  improved  and  you  see  big, 
good-looking  farms,  big  barns,  fine  stock  and  every  evidence  of  pros- 
perity. Turn  off  the  main  road  into  the  back  roads  which  have  never 


AUTOMOBILES  AND  GOOD  ROADS  MOVEMENT         143 

been  improved  and  you  will  find  poor  houses,  poor  barns,  lack  of 
improvement  and  every  outward  evidence  of  a  lack  of  propsperity. 

Now,  the  land  is  just  the  same;  the  same  sort  of  labor  is  applied  to 
it;  the  same  sort  of  crops  planted  in  it.  The  difference  mainly  comes 
from  the  inability  of  one  farmer  to  get  his  stuff  to  the  market  and  sell 
it  to  the  best  advantage. 

Since  the  roads  are  for  all  the  people,  they  should  be  built  by  all 
the  people,  or  all  the  people  should  contribute  to  the  building  of  them. 

We  have  often  been  approached  by  good  roads  enthusiasts  to  make 
large  contributions  to  good  roads  movements,  and  all  automobile 
companies  undoubtedly  have  recieved  similar  requests.  Many  good 
roads  advocates,  especially  in  the  smaller  State  associations  of  the 
west,  seem  to  think  that  the  automobile  people  ought  to  build  the 
roads.  They  can  see  that  the  automobile  industry  would  benefit 
from  good  roads  and  they  immediately  conclude  that  automobile 
manufacturers  ought  to  have  millions  for  good  roads  purposes. 

Recently  there  has  been  a  proposal  to  build  a  fine  highway  between 
Detroit  and  Toledo — and  I  don't  think  there  is  any  place  in  the  United 
States  where  a  highway  is  more  needed.  During  fully  six  months  of 
the  year  this  road  is  practically  impassable  for  any  kind  of  vehicle. 
One  of  the  larger  towns  along  this  route  has  been  holding  out  and 
blocking  progress  on  this  movement  because  the  citizens  of  this  town 
take  the  stand  that  they  ought  not  to  do  anything  especially  to  build 
this  road,  but  that  the  automobile  interests  of  Detroit  ought  to  con- 
tribute the  money  because,  as  they  say,  the  automobile  business  will 
get  the  biggest  benefit. 

Recently,  too,  a  man  came  in  from  Nebraska  who  wanted  the  auto- 
mobile companies  to  contribute  large  sums  of  money  to  build  good 
roads  in  Nebraska.  Now  these  men  do  not  realize  that  the  profit 
on  the  automobiles  sold  in  these  particular  localities  would  not  do 
very  much  in  the  making  of  good  roads;  they  do  not  realize  that  while 
the  automobile  companies  may  be  located  in  that  particular  section, 
the  percentage  of  their  output  that  is  sold  in  that  section  doesn't 
amount  to  much,  and  certainly  not  to  enough  to  warrant  the  companies 
in  spending  a  very  large  sum  of  money  for  building  good  roads. 

To  all  such  enthusiasts  I  always  say  that  the  people  of  Nebraska, 
or  Michigan,  or  whatever  State  it  is,  are  the  ones  who  will  benefit 
most  by  the  roads;  much  more  than  the  automobile  companies — and 
that  therefore  they  should  build  the  roads;  that  they  should  build 
them  for  their  own  sakes — not  for  the  sake  of  helping  the  automobile 


144  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

interests.  Incidentally,  of  course,  the  automobile  industry  will  be 
helped  along  with  all  the  rest  of  the  people. 

Although  the  automobile  interests  benefit  from  good  roads,  it  is 
well  to  remember  that  the  automobile  industry  has  succeeded  in  spite 
of  bad  roads.  It  is  well  to  remember  that  we  have  learned  how  to 
build  automobiles  in  such  a  way  that  they  will  stand  the  pounding 
on  any  kind  of  road;  that  they  will  get  through  places  that  no  other 
vehicle  is  able  to  get  through;  and  they  will  stand  up  for  a  long  time 
and  give  service  in  spite  of  the  terrible  road  conditions  encountered 
in  so  many  parts  of  the  country.  Although  there  are  no  improved 
roads  in  great  sections  of  the  country,  still,  automobiles  sell  rapidly 
and  steadily.  They  will  continue  to  sell  because  the  people  need 
them  and  must  have  them.  They  will  sell  whether  or  not  any  thing 
further  is  done  with  the  roads. 

But  the  road  question  of  this  country  is  too  big  for  one  industry  or 
one  set  of  interests,  or  one  class  of  people  to  attempt  to  settle.  It  is 
everybody's  problem.  It  is  a  national  problem. 

What  the  automobile  industry  most  wants  to  see  is  the  federal 
government  actively  enlisted  in  the  work  of  improving  our  roads. 
We  would  like  to  see  federal  support  on  a  big  scale.  We  are  in  favor 
of  the  Lincoln  Highway  on  this  account.  If  the  Lincoln  Highway 
should  be  constructed  it  would  be  the  first  big  step  toward  federal  aid 
and  a  large  national  system  of  good  roads.  The  federal  government 
would  then  be  committed  to  the  good  roads  work.  It  would  doubtless 
go  ahead  with  it  because  the  benefits  to  accrue  from  such  work  would 
be  immediately  demonstrated. 

Suppose  Lincoln  could  be  asked  whether  he  would  rather  have 
erected  to  him  a  monument  which  could  be  viewed  by  the  persons 
living  in  one  city  and  by  the  travelers  who  visit  that  city,  or  whether 
he  would  rather  have  us  build  the  Lincoln  Memorial  Highway,  stretch- 
ing for  miles  through  the  land,  giving  service  and  affording  pleasure 
to  millions  of  people  every  year?  Everyone  in  this  country  knows 
what  the  answer  of  the  Great  Commoner  would  be. 

Why  stop  at  a  Lincoln  Memorial  Highway  stretching  from  Wash- 
ington to  Gettysburg  ?  Why  not  begin  to  plan  to  make  it  a  Lincoln 
Highway  stretching  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific?  This  would  be 
a  memorial  worthy  of  the  greatest  American  and  worthy  of  the  Ameri- 
can people. 

The  most  that  the  automobile  industry  can  do  in  the  way  of  further- 
ing good  roads  is  what  the  members  of  this  Association  are  doing, 


AUTOMOBILES  AND  GOOD  ROADS  MOVEMENT  145 

namely,  carry  on  missionary  work — try  to  mold  public  sentiment  so 
that  it  will  take  action.  More  especially  we  are  bending  our  efforts 
toward  trying  to  get  Congress  to  commit  the  federal  government  to 
the  good  roads  movement. 

Every  improvement  that  was  ever  accomplished  in  this  country 
has  to  go  through  the  three  stages  of  agitation,  education  and  organi- 
zation. We  have  been  going  through  the  agitating  part  of  this  program 
and  also  the  educating  part  of  it,  and  now  we  are  up  to  the  organiza- 
tion, and  it  is  through  this  organization  and  similar  organizations 
that  we  hope  finally  to  accomplish  the  thing  we  want. 

When  all  is  said  and  done,  this  question  of  good  roads  is  a  political 
question.  Nearly  all  questions  are  political  questions  in  this  country 
— necessarily  so.  We  govern  ourselves,  and  the  means  whereby  we 
do  our  governing  we  call  politics.  Therefore,  we  are  all  interested  in 
politics  and  nearly  everything  we  undertake  is  accomplished  directly  or 
indirectly  by  political  means.  In  the  minds  of  a  great  number  of  our 
people,  unfortunately,  there  is  a  stigma  attached  to  the  word  "politics." 
Yet  there  are  good  politics  and  bad  politics,  and  we  will  have  to  go 
into  politics  before  we  can  ever  get  this  road  question  settled  in  the 
right  way.  In  my  opinion  it  will  need  to  be  made  a  political  issue. 

The  automobile  interests  are  in  favor  of  uniform  legislation  con- 
trolling the  use  of  automobiles.  There  should  be  national  laws 
governing  the  licensing,  speed,  lighting,  danger  signals  and  every- 
thing else  connected  with  the  use  of  motor  vehicles.  Much  automobile 
legislation  is  class  legislation,  and  class  legislation  is  contrary  to  the 
principles  of  American  government.  It  is  no  more  fair  to  legislate 
against  a  class  able  to  own  motor  vehicles  than  it  would  be  to  legislate 
against  a  class  that  is  not  able  to  own  motor  vehicles. 

Now,  one  of  the  most  troublesome  results  of  our  American  system  of 
government  comes  from  the  fact  that  our  nation  is  made  up  of  some 
forty  odd  sovereign  States,  each  and  every  one  of  which  is  constantly 
enacting  laws  with  regard  to  a  common  subject,  so  that  we  have  as  a 
consequence  more  than  forty  various  and  varying  laws  affecting  the 
citizens  of  the  United  States  with  respect  to  the  same  subject,  accord- 
ing as  he  may  happen  to  be  at  the  moment  in  one  part  or  another  of 
his  country.  This  is  true  particularly  with  regard  to  automobile  legis- 
lation. There  are  no  two  States  in  the  union  which  have  the  same 
automobile  law  regulating  the  use  of  the  highways  by  that  vehicle. 

An  automobile  may,  and  frequently  does,  travel  in  two  or  more 
states  in  the  course  of  a  single  day.  Under  the  present  system  it  is 


146  .    AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

subject  to  a  new  set  of  laws  every  time  it  crosses  a  state  line.  It  is 
impossible  for  the  motorist  to  be  familiar  with  all  of  the  provisions  of 
the  automobile  laws  of  the  various  states  through  which  he  may 
travel,  and  the  result  is  that  a  large  part  of  the  time  he  must  necessarily 
become  a  law-breaker  and  a  criminal. 

The  highways  are  the  highways  of  the  nation  and  not  of  any  particu- 
lar locality.  Every  citizen  is  a  citizen  of  the  nation  and  not  of  any 
particular  community.  He  has  a  right  to  travel  from  State  to  State 
over  the  nation's  highways  and  to  know  substantially  what  the  regu- 
lations are  during  the  whole  length  of  his  route,  without  regard  to  the 
different  state  lines. 

The  motorist  claims  no  special  privileges  but  he  claims  the  right 
of  fair  treatment.  He  claims,  too,  that  what  is  reasonable  and  safe 
and  proper  regarding  motor  cars  in  one  State  is  reasonable,  safe  and 
proper  regarding  the  same  vehicle  in  another  State. 

We  do  not  expect  to  have  this  evil  of  conflicting  regualtions  remedied 
in  its  entirety  and  all  at  once;  it  will  take  time  to  standardize  and  unify 
the  laws  of  the  various  states,  but  that  it  will  be  accomplished  event- 
ually there  can  be  no  doubt. 

Right  at  this  time,  however,  the  difficulty  in  one  very  important 
respect  can  be  obviated;  I  mean  in  the  matter  of  registration.  There 
is  no  reason  why  registration  and  licensing  of  a  motor  vehicle  by  one 
state  should  not  afford  to  the  owner  of  such  motor  vehicle  the  right 
to  operate  it  without  further  necessity  of  registration  in  every  other 
state  of  the  union.  A  license  good  in  New  York  City  should  be  equally 
good  in  San  Francisco. 

To  accomplish  this  is  the  purpose  of  the  federal  automobile  regis- 
tration bill  which  will  be  considered  by  congress  at  its  present  session. 
The  object  of  this  bill  is  to  enable  the  owner  of  an  automobile  using 
it  in  interstate  travel,  to  register  his  vehicle  with  a  bureau  in  some 
department  of  the  federal  government,  after  having  previously  regis- 
tered in  the  State  of  his  residence,  and  so  obtain  the  right  to  traverse 
any  of  the  highways  of  the  nation  without  the  necessity  of  further 
registration  and  without  having  to  pay  any  additional  fees  or  taxes 
for  the  use  of  the  highways. 

This  bill  does  not  in  any  way  interfere  with  the  so-called  "States 
rights"  nor  with  the  police  powers  of  the  several  States.  It  is  based 
upon  the  proposition  that  the  end  sought  by  State  registration  is 
simply  to  secure  the  means  of  indentification  of  motor  vehicles.  The 


AUTOMOBILES  AND  GOOD  ROADS  MOVEMENT  147 

proposed  measure  provides  for  sufficiently  large  and  plainly  legible 
identification  marks  to  be  issued  by  the  federal  government,  which 
certainly  will  answer  as  well  the  purpose  of  identification  as  two  or  three 
or  more  local  identification  numbers  hung  upon  the  front  or  rear  or 
both  ends  of  the  vehicle,  to  the  utter  confusion  of  the  observer — the 
police  officer. 

The  question  as  to  the  constitutionality  of  such  a  measure  has 
been  raised.  After  three  years  of  thorough  discussion  before  the  inter- 
state and  foreign  commerce  committee  of  the  house  of  representatives, 
and  special  subcommittees  appointed  for  the  purpose,  it  has  been 
determined  by  an  overwhelming  majority  of  the  house  committee 
that  this  measure  is  not  only  constitutional  but  thoroughly  expedient 
and  advisable.  The  measure  has  also  the  endorsement  of  the  attorney 
general  of  the  United  States. 

Backed  by  these  endorsements  the  Federal  Automobile  Registration 
Bill  now  awaits  the  action  of  congress.  It  has  been  an  up-hill  fight 
but  there  is  now  every  indication  that  the  common  sense  of  the  people 
will  triumph  and  that  we  will  shortly  have  a  bill  providing  for  the 
national  registration  of  motor  vehicles. 

Much  criticism  is  heard  regarding  the  wear  and  tear  which  automo- 
biles give  to  the  improved  roads,  and  in  some  instances  we  hear  of 
complaints  against  the  use  of  the  roads  by  automobiles.  Regarding 
wear  and  tear  on  the  roads,  it  is  a  fact  and  not  a  theory  that  we  are 
facing.  The  automobile  is  here.  It  is  is  going  to  stay.  You  cannot 
keep  it  off  the  roads.  Therefore,  you  will  have  to  build  roads  that 
motor  vehicles  won't  destroy,  and  you  will  have  to  look  further  ahead 
than  merely  the  present  year,  because  I  believe  that  we  are  coming 
more  and  more  to  commercial  trucks  and  heavier  vehicles,  and  the 
roads  will  have  to  be  built  with  that  in  view. 

So  far  as  the  use  of  the  roads  by  motorists  generally  is  concerned, 
the  tax  figures  are  interesting.  In  nearly  every  State,  approximately 
20  per  cent  of  State  taxes  are  paid  by  the  cities.  It  is  safe  to  say  that 
the  greater  part  of  this  20  per  cent  that  the  cities  pay  is  paid  by  the 
automobile-owning  class  of  the  cities.  The  people  who  own  automo- 
biles are  the  people  who  have  property .  The  people  who  have  property 
are  the  ones  who  pay  the  bulk  of  the  taxes.  Add  to  this  automobile- 
owning  class  in  the  cities,  the  other  automobile  owners  in  the  small 
towns  and  among  the  farmers  and  you  will  find  that  the  automobile 
owners  pay  a  big  share  of  the  State  taxes  in  every  State,  and  it  is 
out  of  these  State  taxes  now  that  most  of  the  good  roads  work  is 


143  AMERICAN  ROAD   CONGRESS 

being  done.  So  it  would  seem  that  the  automobile  owner  is  entitled 
to  the  use  of  the  highways,  if  anybody  is. 

The  United  States  has  the  worst  roads  of  any  civilized  country. 
The  cost  of  hauling  over  our  country  roads  is  now  23  cents  a  ton  to 
the  mile.  In  European  countries  it  is  less  than  10  cents  a  mile.  In 
some  roads  going  into  London,  where  motor  trucks  are  used,  it  is 
less  than  4  cents.  If  the  wagon  freight  bill  of  the  country  could  be 
cut  in  half,  it  would  mean  a  saving  to  the  people  of  $250,000,000  a 
year.  Nothing  but  good  roads  can  accomplish  this  saving. 

The  cost  of  roads  varies  in  different  sections,  owing  to  whether  the 
material  from  which  good  roads  can  be  made  is  close  at  hand  or  not. 
In  North  and  South  Carolina,  macadam  roads  can  be  built  for  $1800 
a  mile,  and  in  nine  States  of  the  South  the  average  for  macadam  road 
is  $4000  a  mile.  In  southern  Ohio,  bituminous  macadam  roads  cost 
$7000  a  mile.  In  Massachusetts  the  average  macadam  road  costs 
$8000  a  mile,  and  in  New  York,  the  average  state  road  costs  $9000 
a  mile.  Ohio  has  some  brick  roads  which  cost  $10,000  and  $14,000 
a  mile. 

We  hear  a  great  deal  nowadays  about  the  conservation  of  our  natural 
resources.  We  hear  a  great  deal  about  the  tariff  question  and  the 
increased  cost  of  living.  We  hear  a  great  deal  about  building  up  a 
large  navy,  and  we  hear  a  great  deal  about  the  great  universal  peace 
movement.  These  are  all  political  questions  and  are  agitating 
the  public  mind  at  the  present  time.  But  it  seems  to  me  that  if 
one-half  of  the  stress  that  is  now  being  put  upon  the  increased  cost 
of  living  through  the  tariff  was  put  upon  building  good  roads  and  de- 
creasing the  cost  of  distribution  in  this  country,  and  if  the  federal 
government  would  start  by  appropriating  sufficient  money  to  start, 
say  two  national  highways  across  this  country  it  would  do  more 
to  benefit  the  farmers  and  the  people  living  in  the  cities  than  anything 
else  that  the  government  could  do. 

I  don't  mean  that  this  should  be  done  on  the  old  "pork  barrel" 
methods,  but  a  proper  road  committee  could  be  appointed  to  see  that 
the  contracts  were  let  and  carried  out  in  a  strictly  businesslike  way. 

We  are  all  paying  our  share  of  the  increased  cost  to  the  farmer  in 
getting  his  goods  to  market,  and  if  we  make  good  roads  and  thereby 
increase  the  facilities  and  lessen  the  cost,  the  results  are  bound  to 
show  in  the  cost  of  living. 

With  all  of  our  boasts  about  our  great  crops,  the  value  of  our  manu- 
factured goods,  and  the  greatness  of  this  country  in  every  way,  we 


A   MODEL   STATE   VEHICLE   LAW  149 

ought  all  to  be  thoroughly  ashamed,  as  Americans,  of  the  roads  in 
this  country.  I  believe  when  the  people  are  thoroughly  aroused  on 
this  question  and  realize  that  the  benefits  are  not  for  one  class  of 
people  alone,  but  for  all  the  people  alike,  that  they  will  ries  up  some 
day  and  demand  of  the  national  congress,  to  start  with,  and  the  State 
assemblies,  in  the  second  place,  that  they  cooperate  to  the  end  that 
we  keep  pace  in  our  road  improvement  with  all  other  transportation 
improvements  of  this  century  and  with  all  communicating  improve- 
ments that  we  now  enjoy. 

A  MODEL  STATE  MOTOR  VEHICLE  LAW 

HON.  EDWARD  LAZANSKY 

Secretary  of  State  of  the  State  of  New  York 

The  first  State  legislation  in  the  United  States  with  reference  to 
State  wide  regulation  of  the  use  of  the  automobile  upon  public  high- 
ways seems  to  have  been  passed  in  the  State  of  New  York  in  1901. 
At  the  present  time  thirty-five  other  States,  including  the  District 
of  Columbia,  have  enacted  regulations  therefor.  At  that  time  the 
use  of  the  motor  vehicle  was  very  insignificant.  Since  then  its  devel- 
opment has  proceeded  with  tremendous  strides.  This  development 
of  the  automobile  is  clearly  indicated  by  the  fact  that  in  1901,  954 
cars  were  registered  with  the  secretary  of  state  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  while  this  year  upwards  of  85,000  have  been  registered.  In 
light  of  this  condition  of  affairs,  before  discussing  a  motor  vehiele 
law,  it  may  be  of  considerable  interest  to  have  some  realization  of 
the  magnitude  of  the  automobile  proposition.  To  that  end,  statistics 
with  reference  to  the  Empire  State  may  be  properly  given. 

The  registration  year  of  motor  vehicles  under  the  law,  now  existing 
in  the  State  of  New  York,  is  from  February  1  of  each  year  to  January 
31  of  the  succeeding  year.  Under  the  registration  in  effect  February  1 , 
1911,  81,665  owners  have  registered  cars  up  to  November  1,  1911, 
and  33,485  chauffeurs  have  been  licensed,  bringing  a  revenue  to  the 
State  of  New  York  of  over  $880,000  for  that  period.  To  the  number 
of  owners  registered  should  be  added  at  least  3000  cars  which  are 
registered  by  dealers  under  a  special  registration  provision  for  dealers 
and  manufacturers.  Upon  this  basis  there  are  at  present  upwards  of 
85,000  cars  in  the  State  of  New  York.  Assuming  that  the  average 
value  of  cars  be  taken  at  $1000,  which  everyone  will  concede  to  be 


150  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

conservative,  it  is  found  that  there  are  over  $85,000,000  invested  hi 
the  State  of  New  York  hi  automobiles.  To  say  it  costs  on  an  average 
of  $500  to  maintain  a  machine,  including  the  services  of  a  chauffeur, 
where  one  is  employed,  is  placing  an  estimate  considerably  below 
what  is  undoubtedly  the  fact.  At  this  rate  $42,500,000  is  expended 
annually  in  the  State  of  New  York  for  the  maintenance  of  automo- 
biles. How  far  reaching  the  effect  is  upon  other  commercial  activities 
of  the  diversion  of  these  large  sums  of  money  to  the  use  of  what  at 
the  present  time  to  its  greater  extent  is  a  means  of  pleasure,  will  not 
be  the  subject  of  discussion  at  this  tune.  But  it  certainly  does  bring 
to  the  mind  the  conclusion  that  where  hi  a  State  consisting  of  9,000,000 
of  people,  such  large  sums  of  money  are  invested  hi  a  substantial 
proposition  and  probably  upward  of  500,000  people  interested  therein 
by  reason  of  the  use  of  machines  and  of  activities  in  the  construction 
and  maintenance  thereof,  a  problem  is  presented  which  requires 
very  careful  consideration  and  demands  that  every  facility  should  be 
offered  for  the  use  of  the  automobile  to  the  end  that  this  new  engine 
of  progress  may  be  of  the  greatest  possible  benefit  to  our  people  in  the 
promotion  of  their  welfare.  A  new  phase  of  human  activity  has 
suddenly  and  with  great  force  thrust  itself  upon  the  people.  Millions 
of  dollars  are  expended  for  it;  through  it  thousands  have  found  a  new 
field  for  labor  and  investment.  From  present  indications,  the  use 
of  the  automobile  has  only  commenced.  No  one  can  tell  to  what 
extent  it  will  go.  Whether  or  not  the  use  of  the  automobile  will  go 
very  much  further  as  a  means  of  enjoyment,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  its  use  as  a  commercial  vehicle  is  steadily  growing,  and  will  soon 
surpass  its  use  as  a  pleasure  vehicle.  Although  it  is  practically  a  new 
institution,  there  are  upwards  of  8000  commercial  automobiles  regis- 
tered in  New  York.  The  figures  in  New  York  State,  startling  as  they 
are,  merely  throw  a  small  light  upon  the  automobile  situation.  In 
order  to  give  a  full  comprehensive  understanding  of  the  situation 
generally,  it  is  deemed  proper  to  submit  figures  in  thirty-five  of  the 
thirty-six  states  of  the  Union,  where  there  is  a  state-wide  registration. 
The  list,  compiled  after  communication  with  officials  in  these  states 
which  met  with  generous  responses,  follows: 


A   MODEL   STATE   VEHICLE   LAW 


151 


Total  receipts  under  motor  vehicle  laws  in  thirty-six  states,  including  total  reg- 
istration and  licenses  issued  therein.  (January  to  October,  1911,  except 
where  otherwise  indicated.) 


STATE 

NUMBER 

of 

OWNERS 

NUMBER 
OF 
CHAUF- 
FERS, 
INCLUD- 
ING 
OPERA- 
TORS 

FEES, 
OWNERS 

FEES, 
CHAUFFEURS 

TOTAL  FEES, 
INCLUDING 
INCIDENTALS 

1.  New  York,  Jan.-Nov.  1  
2.  Massachusetts 

81,665 

36,975 
43,074 
48,266 
40,000 

45,150 
13,500 
30,323 
27,664 

.  5,863 
7,097 
3,298 
18,225 
4,489 
14,566 
3,908 
19,000 
6,150 
7,185 
2,041 
2,680 

7,241 
8,000 
1,228 
12,000 
5,700 
2,678 
2,230 
7,765 
1,500 
452 
2,000 
3,250 
1,333 
442 
Law  eff  ec 

33,485 

8,941 
15,483 
*39,325 
7,000 

6,225 
*19,000 
None 
3,576 

*8,509 
*3,327 
*3,924 
3,488 
*5,584 
4,502 
592 
1,800 
1,505 
None 
329 
None 

None 
None 
*1,344 
None 
None 
*2,955 
2,280 
None 
250 
None 
None 
None 
107 
51 
ive  Octobe 

No  separate 
March 
$372,897.00 

accounts  until 
1,  1911. 
$7,208.00 

$882,975.87 

460,000.00 
418,631.00 
374,878.63 

350,000.00 
254,719.70 
207,000.00 
148,366.35 

96,169.00 
73,000.00 
63,055.00 
59,648.00 
55,995.00 
52,956.00 
38,136.00 
35,574.50 
32,400.00 
25,916.00 
21,545.00 
20.458.00 

20,000.00 
17,752.00 
16,000.00 
13,036.00 
12,000.00 
11,400.00 
11,266.00 
10,172.00 
7,765.00 
7,750.00 
7,260.00 
4,000.00 
3,250.00 
2,880.00 
986.00 
anuary  1,  1912 

3.  Pennsylvania 

4.  New  Jersey              .        , 

5.  Illinois.    Since  July  1  
6.  Ohio 

January-Jun 
issued  after 
January   '12 
Estimated 
242,209.70 
169,000.00 
148,366.35 
No  separate 
for  chauffeur 
73,000.00 
56,799.00 
51,795.00 
53,006.50 
49,851.00 
29,132.00 
34,094.50 
28,800.00 
24,411.00 
,       21,545.00 
19,800.00 
Approximate 
beginning  » 
17,752.00 
16,000.00 
6,316.00 
12,000.00 
11,400.00 
5,356.00 
5,644.00 
7,765.00 
7,500.00 
7,260.00 
4,000.00 
3,250.00 
2,666.00 
884.00 
r  1  —  data  not  a 

e;  no  licenses 
Tuly  1st,  until 

12,510.00 
38,000.00 
None 
account  kept 
s  and  owners 
8,509.00 
6,256.00 
7,848.00 
2,996.90 
3,115.00 
9,004.00 
1,480.00 
3,600.00 
1,505.00 
None 
658.00 
y;  fiscal  year 
Fune  19,  1911. 
None 
None 
6,720.00 
None 
None 
5,910.00 
4,528.00 
None 
250.00 
None 
None 
None 
214.00 
102.00 
vallable  until  J 

7.  Connecticut 

8.  Iowa.    Since  July  4 

9.  Michigan  

10.  Rhode  Island  

11.  Maryland  

12.  Vermont,  January-October  30.. 
13.  Missouri 

14.  New  Hampshire 

15.  California  

16.  Virginia  

17.  Minnesota  

18.  Oregon.    Since  June  1  
19.  North  Dakota.  Since  July  1.... 
20.  West  Virginia.    Since  July  1  ... 
21.  Kentucky  

22.  Wisconsin  
23.  Washington  
24.  Delaware  
25.  Indiana  

28.  Georgia  

27.  Maine 

28.  District  of  Columbia 

29.  Nebraska  
30.s  Arkansas.    Since  August  13  .... 
31.  North  Carolina  

32.  Tennessee 

33.  South  Dakota  
34.  Florida  
35    Utah 

36.  Alabama  

'Operators. 

Total  owners 516,977 

Total  chauffeurs,  including  operators 174,087 

Total  receipts $3,746,938.55 


152  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

The  list  shows  the  number  of  owners,  chauffeurs  including  opera- 
tors and  fees  received  from  owners,  chauffeurs  and  operators.  It 
appears  tha^  during  the  present  year  the  fees  received  in  these  thirty- 
five  States  (the  amount  hi  Illinois  being  estimated)  is  $3,746,938.55. 
These  figures  show  that  there  are  516,977  machines  registered  or  one 
machine  to  about  every  180  persons  in  the  United  States  On  the 
basis  of  value  above  stated,  there  are  $516,977,000  invested  in  auto- 
mobiles in  the  thirty-five  States  included  in  the  foregoing  list  or  about 
$5.60  for  each  person  in  the  country.  Upon  the  basis  of  expense 
before  stated  it  costs  the  owners  in  these  thirty-five  States  $259,469,000 
per  annum  to  maintain  these  machines,  or  at  the  rate  of  $2.80  for 
each  inhabitant  of  our  nation. 

With  these  figures  before  one  and  understanding  that  the  automo- 
bile is  practically  a  novel  proposition,  which  we  are  apt  to  overlook 
in  these  days  of  persistent  progress,  when  everything  moves  so  swiftly 
that  a  novelty  quickly  becomes  ordinary,  it  will  at  once  be  realized 
how  important  it  is  that  every  effort  should  be  employed  to  give  the 
widest  latitude  for  the  use  of  the  automobile  without,  however,  infring- 
ing upon  the  safety  of  the  people.  It  cannot  be  expected  that  public 
regulation  will  keep  pace  with  private  enterprise.  The  automobile 
moves  faster  than  legislatures.  Besides  problems  are  presented  every- 
day in  the  early  days  of  any  new  activity,  and  it  has  been  impossible 
to  anticipate  where  the  development  has  been  so  hurried.  There  has, 
therefore,  been  little  or  no  effort  for  uniform  regulation  in  the  various 
States,  pricipally  because  there  has  been  no  time  for  it  and  secondly 
because  unity  of  action  among  the  several  States  is  necessarily  tardy 
in  its  progress.  Furthermore  until  the  situation  is  fully  developed 
and  understood  in  each  State,  and  its  own  affairs  properly  regulated, 
there  could  be  no  desire  to  reach  out  to  procure  cooperation  and 
uniform  regulation. 

There  has  been  legislation  in  thirty-six  States,  including  the  District 
of  Columbia,  for  a  uniform  law  throughout  the  respective  States. 

RECIPROCITY 

Of  course  each  State  will  make  provision  for  conditions  peculiar  to 
itself  and  it  is  not  likely  that  in  all  respects  the  states  will  enact  uniform 
laws.  In  one  respect  there  is  a  general  demand  and  unquestionable 
need  for  uniformity,  i.  e.,  the  right  of  a  resident  of  one  State  to  operate 
a  car  in  a  sister  State,  provided  he  has  complied  with  the  provisions 


A    MODEL   STATE   VEHICLE   LAW  153 

of  law  of  his  home  State.  There  does  not  seem  to  be  any  reason 
whatsoever  why  a  resident  of  one  State  fully  authorized  to  use  the 
roads  of  that  State  should  not  be  permitted  to  go  at  his  will  upon  the 
roads  of  another  State  wearing  the  badge  of  authority  granted  by  the 
State  of  which  he  is  a  resident.  It  seems  to  be  a  failure  to  recognize 
the  importance  of  the  automobile,  when  a  tourist  is  confronted  by  the 
necessity  of  carrying  with  him  on  a  tour  throughout  the  States  the 
license  of  each  State  he  enters.  There  has  been  some  effort  to  do 
away  with  this  hindrance  to  a  free  use  of  the  automobile.  The  New 
York  State  law  permits  a  non-resident  to  enter  the  State  of  New  York 
without  any  formalities,  without  the  paying  of  a  fee  and  for  an  indefi- 
nite period,  provided  the  non-resident  has  complied  with  the  laws 
of  his  State  governing  the  use  of  the  automobile,  and  carries  with  him 
upon  his  machine  the  emblem  of  the  authority  granted  him  by  his 
State  and  further  provided  that  the  State  from  which  the  non-resident 
comes  gives  a  like  privilege  to  residents  of  the  State  of  New  York. 
For  instance,  since  the  State  of  Maine  permits  a  resident  of  the  State 
of  New  York  to  enter  the  State  of  Maine  with  his  machine  bearing 
New  York  State  number  plates,  the  State  of  New  York  permits  a 
resident  of  the  State  of  Maine  to  enter  New  York,  if  the  Maine 
number  plates  be  shown.  There  are  fifteen  States  of  the  thirty-six 
above  mentioned  which  practically  come  within  this  rule.  In  other 
States  there  are  limitations  as  to  tune.  Massachusetts  permits  a 
non-resident  to  go  into  Massachusetts  for  ten  days,  provided  his  own 
State  grants  a  similar  privilege  to  residents  of  Massachusetts.  The 
difficulty  with  that  law  is  there  is  absolutely  no  way  of  determining 
whether  a  non-resident  is  within  the  foreign  state  for  more  than  ten 
days  or  not.  Surely  in  a  great  city  like  New  York  City,  the  police 
could  never  determine  whether  a  resident  of  Massachusetts  was  in 
the  State  of  New  York  for  a  longer  period  than  ten  days.  Putting 
it  in  another  way,  this  law  is  so  ready  of  violation  and  impossible  of 
enforcement  that  it  is  practically  useless.  There  is,  however,  one 
satisfaction  in  the  law,  that  it  does  give  some  privileges  to  non- 
residents without  a  new  registration.  In  Tennessee  no  exemption 
exists,  whatsoever.  In  New  Jersey  no  exemption  exists  except  in 
so  far  as  the  commissioner  of  motor  vehicles  is  permitted  in  his 
discretion  to  grant  an  eight  day  license  upon  application  duly  made 
by  the  non-resident  upon  the  payment  of  a  fee  of  $1.  The  first  objec- 
tion to  this  is  that  it  requires  a  non-resident  to  make  an  application 
for  a  license  and  pay  a  fee.  The  second  difficulty  was  found  when  the 


154  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

commissioner  of  highways,  acting  in  his  discretion,  refused  an  eight 
day  license  to  non-residents.  The  ground  taken  was  that  several 
of  the  adjoining  States  refused  to  give  a  like  privilege  to  residents 
of  New  Jersey.  It  was  not  within  the  power  of  the  State  officials  of 
the  State  of  New  York  to  grant  a  temporary  license  upon  payment  of 
a  fee.  The  law  there  provides  for  an  annual  registration.  The  result 
of  this  has  been  in  so  far  as  New  York  is  concerned,  that  thousands  of 
people  who  make  their  summer  homes  on  the  Jersey  coast  were  com- 
pelled not  only  to  pay  the  fee  in  their  own  State  but  were  forced  to 
pay  the  regular  New  Jersey  annual  fee.  This  has  resulted  in  much 
dissatisfaction.  It  is  expected,  however,  that  some  way  of  avoiding 
this  unfortunate  condition  can  be  found.  This  statement  is  not  made 
with  the  intention  of  criticizing,  because  each  State  must  determine 
for  itself  what  is  the  best  for  it  to  do,  but  it  is  given  for  the  purpose 
of  showing  very  clearly  that  steps  should  be  taken  by  all  the  States 
interested  in  procuring  legislation  which  will  permit  the  freest  possible 
use  of  their  highways  by  non-residents  with  as  little  regulation  as  is 
consistent  with  law  and  order.  The  automobile  gives  opportunities 
of  seeing  the  country  which  the  people  have  never  had  to  such  an 
extent  before.  It  leads  to  many  small  interesting  places  which  even 
the  railroad  with  its  great  facilities  has  not  been  able  to  make  suffici- 
ently accessible.  It  enables  the  people  to  know  their  country  better. 
It  brings  people  into  closer  contact.  Especially  is  this  true  of  the 
commercial  vehicle.  Trips  from  New  York  to  Philadelphia  are  very 
frequent.  It  surely  will  not  be  conducive  to  the  growth  of  this  phase 
of  the  industry  and  to  business  generally  if  a  merchant  in  Philadelphia, 
desiring  to  carry  goods  to  New  York  City,  will  have  to  have  his 
machine  registered  in  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey  and  New  York  and 
to  pay  a  fee  in  each  State.  The  tune  is  not  so  very  far  away  when 
there  will  be  great  public  highways  between  the  large  cities  of  the 
State.  At  the  present  time,  as  is  so  well  known,  a  federal  highway  is 
proposed  between  Gettysburg  and  Washington.  In  anticipation  of 
the  time  when  these  highways  come  into  existence,  every  opportunity 
should  be  afforded  to  an  owner  of  an  automobile,  whether  it  be  a  pleas- 
ure or  commercial  vehicle,  to  go  at  his  will  between  the  various  States 
provided  he  has  complied  with  the  law  of  his  own  State.  It  would 
not  be  fair  in  this  country  of  such  great  opportunity  and  where  there 
is  such  a  great  exchange  of  wealth  between  the  various  States  to  reduce 
it  to  a  mathematical  proposition  upon  the  basis  that  because  the  num- 
ber of  residents  of  one  State  going  into  another  is  greater  than  those 


A   MODEL   STATE   VEHICLE   LAW  155 

going  from  the  latter  to  the  former  it  would  be  of  financial  benefit  to 
the  latter  to  levy  a  tax  upon  non-residents.  That  would  surely  be  a 
small  policy  to  pursue.  Therefore,  there  can  be  no  model  automobile 
law  in  any  State  which  does  not  provide  for  the  right  of  a  non-resident 
to  operate  his  motor  vehicle  in  a  sister  State  without  payment  of  fees 
provided  he  has  complied  with  the  laws  of  his  own  State  and  dis- 
plays that  fact  when  he  enters  the  State  of  which  he  is  non-resident. 

OPERATION  OF  AUTOMOBILE 

In  eleven  of  the  States  before  mentioned  no  one  is  required  to  procure 
a  license  in  order  to  operate  a  motor  vehicle.  In  ten  of  the  states 
every  person  who  operates  a  motor  vehicle  must  first  obtain  a  license 
in  order  to  do  so.  In  fifteen,  and  particular  attention  is  called  to 
New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Illinois  and  Ohio,  only  a  professional 
operator  is  required  to  be  licensed.  In  New  York  only  the  profes- 
sional must  be  examined  as  to  his  qualifications  to  operate  before  a 
license  is  issued  to  him.  In  this  respect  it  will  therefore  be  observed 
that  there  is  no  uniformity.  If  the  automobile  be  a  dangerous 
instrument  than  it  seems  that  every  person  operating  a  motor  vehicle 
should  be  examined  as  to  his  qualifications  by  the  authorities  before 
a  license  is  issued  as  in  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  New  Jersey 
and  the  District  of  Columbia.  If  the  automobile  be  not  a  dangerous 
affair,  then  it  would  seem  that  nobody  should  be  required  to  pass 
an  examination  as  to  his  qualifications.  In  New  York  where  only 
professional  chauffeurs  are  required  to  be  licensed  there  is  no  justifi- 
cation for  such  limitation.  Either  all  operators  should  be  examined  or 
none.  If  a  person  operating  a  machine  as  an  employee  must  be  exam- 
ined, it  can  only  be  upon  the  theory  that  it  is  a  machine  which  requires 
training  and  skill  to  manipulate.  If  that  be  so,  why  should  not  the 
owner  be  placed  in  the  same  position.  It  does  not  seem  to  be  an 
effective  answer  to  say  that  the  personal  responsibility  of  the  owner 
to  answer  in  damages  for  injury  inflicted  creates  a  keener  desire  on 
his  part  to  be  cautious  then  is  created  in  one,  who  is  operating  a 
machine  for  hire  and  who  may  be  held  criminally  liable  for  his  heed- 
lessness.  It  is  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  one  man  thinks  less  of 
his  criminal  responsibility  than  another  does  of  a  civil  responsibility. 
With  knowledge  of  his  responsibility  the  chauffeur  will  exercise 
as  much  care  as  the  owner  who  knows  he  is  civilly  as  well  as  criminally 
responsible.  Of  course  this  is  one  of  the  propositions  which  has 


156  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

partisans  on  either  side  and  there  can  at  this  time,  at  any  rate,  be 
no  agreement  concerning  it.  As  the  automobile  is  practically  new, 
and  as  operators  and  the  public  upon  the  highways  have  not  become 
thoroughly  accustomed  to  it  and  its  use,  there  is  contention  that  it  is 
necessary  at  this  time  to  require  that  every  person,  whether  he  be 
owner  or  an  operator  for  hire,  should  be  examined  as  to  his  qualifica- 
tions before  he  is  permitted  to  operate  an  automobile.  This  view  is 
not  supported  in  nearly  all  of  the  States  concerning  which  statistics 
have  been  collected.  The  other  weakness  of  the  New  York  law 
limiting  examinations  and  licenses  to  employes  and  operators  for 
hire  is  that  the  members  of  the  family  and  friends  of  an  owner  of  a  car 
may  operate  a  car  even  though  they  have  no  qualifications  therefor. 
If  however,  every  person  who  desires  to  operate  a  car  should  first 
be  examined  as  to  his  qualifications,  and,  in  any  event,  registered  as 
an  operator,  the  danger  would  be  minimized.  Of  course  the  time  is 
coming  when  everybody  will  be  readily  able  to  operate  an  automobile. 
When  that  time  comes,  there  will  be  no  need  for  examinations.  But 
until  it  does  come,  if  the  chauffeur  must  be  examined  then  there  can 
be  no  logical  reason  why  the  owner  should  not. 

There  need  not  be  a  lengthy  discussion  as  to  what  age  a  person 
must  have  attained  before  he  should  be  permitted  to  operate  an  auto- 
mobile. Men  and  women  do  not  generally  attain  the  age  of  discretion 
and  judgment  even  in  ordinary  affairs  until  they  reach  the  age  of 
eighteen.  Until  that  time  there  is  not  as  a  rule  a  full  appreciation  of 
responsibilities.  There  should  not  be  complaint  in  any  quarter  if  a 
person  under  the  age  of  eighteen  years  is  not  permitted  to  operate  a 
motor  vehicle.  Of  course  a  few  fond  fathers  may  feel  outraged,  but 
in  the  general  run,  having  hi  mind  the  rights  of  the  public,  there  is 
no  reason  for  relaxing  that  rule. 

As  to  the  nature  of  the  examination  of  those  who  are  required  to 
be  examined,  as  operator  or  chauffeur,  there  seems  to  be  some  differ- 
ence of  opinion  as  to  whether  in  addition  to  having  the  capacity  to 
operate  a  car,  the  applicant  should  be  a  qualified  mechanician.  While, 
of  course,  it  would  be  preferable  that  each  operator  of  a  car  should 
thoroughly  understand  the  various  parts  and  be  able  to  extricate 
himself  from  any  difficulty  in  which  he  may  find  himself,  at  any  time 
or  place,  in  general,  the  public  is  only  interested  in  the  safe  operation 
of  the  vehicle.  All  that  is  necessary  is  that  the  person  be  well  qualified 
to  safely  operate  the  machine,  have  some  general  knowledge  of  its 


A   MODEL   STATE   VEHICLE   LAW  157 

working  parts,  and  be  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  rules  of  the 
road. 

For  the  purpose  of  identification  every  machine  should  be  num- 
bered plainly.  This  is  required  in  all  of  the  above  states. 

POLICE  POWER 

There  is  no  proposition  in  connection  with  the  control  by  each 
state  of  the  operation  of  motor  vehicles  more  important  than  the 
enforcement  of  the  law.  It  is  easy  enough  to  legislate,  but  where 
so  many  machines  are  being  used  and  the  opportunity  of  violating 
the  law  is  so  broad,  it  is  no  easy  proposition  to  enforce  the  law.  It 
is  an  unfair  situation  that  some  men  should  be  permitted  to  flagrantly 
violate  the  law  while  others  obey  it  rigorously.  Under  the  laws  of 
New  York  State  the  registration  is  in  the  hands  of  the  secretary  of 
State  while  the  enforcement  is  in  the  hands  of  the  police  of  each  locality. 
The  enforcement,  therefore,  is  dependent  upon  the  favor  with  which 
each  locality  looks  upon  the  law.  Since  the  enactment  of  the.  present 
motor  vehicle  law,  all  fines  for  violations  thereof  must  be  turned  over 
to  the  State  treasurer.  It  formerly  went  into  the  treasury  of  the  locality 
or  into  the  pocket  of  the  police  justice  or  magistrate.  Then,  if  the 
newspaper  reports  are  to  be  credited,  thousands  of  arrests  were  made 
weekly.  Under  the  law  as  it  now  stands,  each  arrest  must  be  reported 
by  the  clerk  of  the  court  to  the  secretary  of  State.  The  law  went 
into  effect  August  1,  1910,  and  since  that  time  to  August  1,  1911, 
only  2,229  arrests  have  been  made,  and  but  $14,000  in  fines  paid  into 
the  State  treasury.  This  is  undoubtedly  a  small  part  of  what  was 
received  the  year  before  the  present  law  was  enacted.  It  seems  to 
indicate,  and  investigations  have  disclosed  that  under  the  present 
system  many  violations  take  place  without  any  action  on  the  part 
of  the  police,  not  so  much  in  the  large  cities,  but  frequently  in  the 
smaller  communities.  The  convictions  mentioned  above  have  come 
from  only  nineteen  counties  out  of  the  sixty-one  counties  in  the  state. 
No  arrests  seem  to  have  been  made  in  forty-two  counties.  In  one 
city  of  48,000  inhabitants,  an  inspector  of  the  New  York  automobile 
bureau  recently  caused  the  arrest  of  thirteen  persons  in  two  hours. 
The  inclination  of  the  magistrate  to  enforce  the  law  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that  he  immediately  suspended  sentence  in  the  thirteen  cases. 
There,  therefore,  cannot  be  any  proper  execution  of  a  state-wide 
motor  vehicle  law,  unless  there  be  some  authority  in  the  state  official 


158  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

to  cause  the  arrest  and  procure  the  conviction  of  offenders.  The  police 
throughout  the  state  have  very  many  duties  to  perform.  Violations 
of  provisions  of  motor  vehicle  law,  such  as  the  omission  to  carry  proper 
number  plates  or  in  the  case  of  chauffeurs,  the  failure  to  wear  the 
designated  badge,  and  even  cases  of  excessive  speed,  can  be  and  are 
readily  winked  at  in  some  places  by  the  police  authorities  as  the  results 
show,  because  the  locality  no  longer  benefits  by  an  arrest.  This  condi- 
tion is  bound  to  continue  until  someone  who  is  directly  interested  in 
and  responsible  for  the  administration  and  execution  of  the  law  is 
permitted  to  take  steps  for  the  law's  enforcement  by  the  prosecution 
of  offenders  thereunder.  There  may  be  objections  to  the  appointment 
of  state  officials  for  this  purpose  upon  the  theory  that  it  would  mean 
the  creation  of  a  state  police,  but  it  will  be  necessary,  if  the  law  is  to 
receive  the  respect  it  is  entitled  to,  and  full  protection  to  the  people 
of  the  state  is  to  be  assured.  No  results  can  be  obtained  in  that 
direction  unless  the  official  having  charge  of  the  administration  of 
the  law  also  has  charge  of  its  enforcement.  In  several  of  the  states, 
an  official  appointed  under  the  state  motor  vehicle  law,  has  such 
power. 

In  the  same  connection,  there  should  be  granted  to  such  official 
the  power  to  revoke  either  an  owner's  registration  or  a  chauffeur's 
license  for  cause  shown  subject  to  review  by  the  courts.  The  present 
law  in  the  State  of  New  York  is  unsatisfactory  because  an  owner's 
registration  or  chauffeur's  license  can  not  be  revoked  by  the  secretary 
of  State  without  the  recommendation  of  the  police  magistrate  who  tries 
the  offender,  and  then  except  in  two  instances,  viz.:  operating  a  car 
when  intoxicated  and  running  away  from  an  accident,  only  after  a 
third  conviction.  There  is  no  close  connection  between  the  various 
magistrates  and  the  secretary  of  State.  The  magistrates  with  the  large 
amount  of  other  cases  cannot  possibly  give  each  case  appropriate  atten- 
tion. This  could  all  be  remedied  if  the  execution  of  the  law  were  in 
charge  of  a  state  official  who  would  know  of  each  violation  and  would 
be  in  a  position  to  act  for  the  best  interests  of  the  public,  subject  to 
the  review  of  the  courts. 

FEES 

Without  entering  into  any  discussion  as  to  the  power  of  a  state  to 
tax  automobiles  and  to  license  chauffeurs  as  such  for  the  purpose  of  pro- 
ducing revenue,  and  assuming  the  registration  of  automobiles  and  the 
licensing  of  chauffeurs  is  effected  upon  the  theory  that  a  means  of  inden- 


A   MODEL   STATE   VEHICLE   LAW  159 

tification  in  case  of  accident  may  be  afforded,  it  would  seem  to  be  proper 
that  the  fees  should  be  as  small  as  possible.  Of  course,  it  if  be  upon  a 
basis  of  a  tax  for  revenue  purposes,  nothing  further  need  be  said  upon 
the  subject  except  that  each  State  must  determine  for  itself  what  the 
tax  shall  be.  But  upon  the '  'identification"  theory  there  can  be  no  waA- 
rant  for  any  tax  or  fee  greater  than  the  amount  of  expense  which  the 
state  incurs  in  making  the  registration  or  issuing  the  li cense.  Upon  that 
basis,  of  course,  all  owners  of  machines  would  pay  the  same  tax  and  there 
would  not  be  any  graded  rate  based  upon  horse  power  on  the  theory 
that  the  heavier  the  car,  the  greater  the  wear  and  tear  of  the  highways. 
Where  so  many  of  the  people  of  a  state  are  interested  in  a  particular 
proposition,  the  conduct  of  which  throws  a  burden  upon  the  State, 
it  seems  that  the  burden  should  be  borne  by  the  State  and  not  the 
people  who  are  directly  interested  in  the  particular  proposition. 
It  is  safe  to  say  that  in  the  State  of  New  York  500,000  people  are  directly 
and  indirectly  interested  in  the  automobile  either  through  the  pleasure 
it  affords  or  by  reason  of  their  connection  with  some  mercantile 
automobile  industry.  This  is  over  20  per  cent  of  all  the  people. 
There  are  very  few  forms  of  activity  which  cast  a  burden  upon  the 
state  in  which  all  the  people  are  interested.  Everybody  does  not 
own  a  horse  and  wagon  but  the  use  of  horses  and  wgons  means  much 
to  everybody  in  the  state.  Automobiles  use  the  highways.  So  do 
horses  and  wagons.  Horses  and  wagons  are  not  taxed.  Therefore, 
when  an  owner  has  lawfully  marked  a  car  in  order  to  identify  it  and 
a  chauffeur  wears  a  badge  in  order  to  identify  him,  there  can  be  no 
reason  why  there  should  be  heavy  tax  on  the  owners  of  automobiles 
or  operators  or  chauffeurs.  For  registration  and  licensing  under  the 
''identification"  theory  the  fee  should  not  exceed  the  expense  to  the 
state.  Of  course  if  it  be  lawful  to  tax  for  the  purposes  of  revenue 
then  the  tax  will  depend  upon  the  amount  sought  to  be  raised  and 
the  willingness  of  the  public  to  submit.  But  in  no  event  should  the 
tax  upon  the  professional  operator  be  greater  than  the  expense  of 
examination  and  issuance  of  licenses.  To  place  a  burden  upon  the 
opportunity  of  making  a  living  is  un-American.  No  state  is  so  poor 
that  it  must  tax  a  man's  labor.  If  the  purpose  of  registration  and 
licensing  be  not  for  purpose  of  raising  an  annual  revenue  then  there 
can  be  no  necessity  for  an  annual  registration  and  license.  It  might 
be  claimed  that  a  small  fee  would  meet  strong  criticism  from  the 
inhabitants  of  rural  communities  particularly  the  farmers  who,  it 
will  be  said,  protest  against  the  use  of  the  highways  and  their  destruc- 


160  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

tion  by  autos  unless  the  owners  pay  therefor.  While  this  may  be 
largely  true  today,  the  protest  will  die,  for  soon  the  farmer  will  be 
an  owner.  In  other  respects,  he  has  advanced  with  the  times.  Why 
not  in  this? 

SPEED  LAWS 

It  is  impossible  to  formulate  a  set  of  rules  which  will  be  satisfactory 
to  all  commonwealths.  Each  must  decide  for  itself  what  is  proper. 
But  it  is  necessary  that  there  be  a  uniform  rate  of  speed  allowed  in 
all  localities  of  the  same  class.  In  large  communities,  of  course,  the 
rate  of  speed  must  be  much  lower  than  upon  a  country  road  where 
there  is  very  little  traffic.  There  does  not  seem  to  be  any  reason  why 
indulgence  of  a  fairly  high  rate  of  speed  should  not  be  tolerated  in 
sparsely  populated  places.  Conditions  must  determine  the  proper 
speed.  In  any  event,  if  regulations  are  made,  they  should  be  state- 
wide and  no  local  ordinances  should  be  permitted.  Anyone  who  has 
had  any  experience  at  all  with  the  use  of  an  automobile,  knows  the 
difficulties  and  annoyances  where  local  ordinances  were  in  force  and 
where  they  are  now  in  force.  A  man  has  to  have  a  guide  book  in 
one  hand  while  he  is  driving  his  machine  with  the  other,  in  order  to 
determine  at  what  speed  he  may  go  and  what  he  has  to  do  in  other 
respects  to  be  within  the  law  as  he  goes  from  place  to  place.  It  is 
difficult  enough  for  one  who  is  making  a  tour  through  States  to  know 
the  rules  of  each  State  without  having  to  be  acquainted  with  the  ordin- 
ances of  each  town,  village  and  city  through  which  he  may  pass. 
The  enforcement  of  these  local  ordinances  has  been  effected  in  a  very 
unsatisfactory  manner  as  those  who  have  fallen  into  speed  traps  well 
know.  Do  away  with  local  ordinances  and  have  State-wide  regula- 
tion properly  advertised. 

MOTOR   CYCLES 

There  has  been  some  hesitancy  on  the  part  of  some  of  the  States, 
including  New  York,  to  require  the  registration  of  motor  cycles. 
There  does  not  seem  to  be  any  reason  why  a  two  wheeled  motor  vehi- 
cle should  not  be  brought  under  the  provisions  of  a  motor  vehicle  law 
as  well  as  a  four-wheeled  motor  vehicle.  It  is  not  kept  under  better 
control  than  the  larger  vehicle  and  most  of  the  same  dangers  attendant 
upon  the  large  vehicle  are  attendant  upon  it.  The  recognition  of 
this  condition  is  found  in  the  fact  that  out  of  thirty-six  States,  nine- 
teen require  the  registration  of  motor  cycles. 


A   MODEL   STATE   VEHICLE   LAW  161 

MANUFACTURERS    OR    DEALERS 

In  many  of  the  States  a  liberal  concession  is  made  to  manufacturers 
by  permitting  them  to  register  their  types  of  cars  and  pay  one  fee 
for  all  cars  owned,  regardless  of  number,  and  receive  number  plates 
for  as  many  as  they  wish.  They  are  permitted  to  deliver  these  plates 
to  a  purchaser  who  may  use  them  until  he  can  make  an  application 
for  registration  and  new  plates  delivered  provided  an  application 
therefor  is  made  at  once.  In  New  York  such  a  provision  has 
resulted  in  inconvenience  and  annoyance  to  the  dealer  and  the  viola- 
tion of  the  law  by  the  purchaser.  In  many  instances  the  purchaser 
retains  the  manufacturer's  plates  and  never  applies  for  the  registra- 
tion of  the  car. 

There  can  be  no  complaint  against  a  law  which  permits  a  dealer 
to  register  his  types  of  cars  instead  of  each  car  and  enables  the  pur- 
chaser to  use  the  borrowed  plates  for  a  short  period.  It  helps,  as  it 
should  help,  the  trade.  But  the  law  is  unsatisfactory  because  the 
police  in  a  large  State  cannot  possibly  know  of  the  violations  of  law 
by  the  purchaser.  The  law  in  this  respect  cannot  be  enforced  unless 
the  dealer  is  required  to  report  to  the  State  official  in  charge  of  the 
automobile  affairs  the  name  of  each  purchaser  to  whom  he  delivers 
plates  and  the  time  of  such  delivery.  If  then  the  purchaser  fails  to 
make  application  for  registration  within  the  required  time,  he  can 
be  notified  and  upon  continued  violation  of  the  law  arrested. 

CONCLUSION 

These  items  in  a  general  way  cover  the  essentials  of  an  effective 
law.  There  are  many  details  such  as  the  method  of  registration  and 
licensing,  the  kind  of  number  plates  and  badges,  and  the  delivery 
thereof,  and  the  like  which  must  be  a  part  of  every  such  law,  but  have 
no  place  here  because  each  department  is  bound  in  respect  of  detail 
to  follow  its  own  inclination. 

The  automobile  has  a  wonderful  future.  It  is  now  and  will  even 
in  greater  measure  be  a  potent  factor  in  human  activities  all  over  the 
world.  The  law  should  give  a  helping  hand. 

There  should  be  no  attempt  to  curb  its  use  except  as  public  safety 
demands.  Liberality  should  be  permitted  and  restriction  discouraged. 


162  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

THE  MOTOR  VEHICLE  LAW  OF  CONNECTICUT 

HON.  MATTHEW  S.  ROGERS 
Secretary  of  State 

The  statutes  which  have  appeared  on  our  statute  books,  regulating 
the  use  and  operation  of  motor  vehicles,  have  been  as  marked  in  their 
advancement  as  the  improvements  in  the  structure  and  equipment 
of  the  machines  themselves. 

To  be  a  good  law  and  practical  in  its  workings,  such  law  should 
have  three  purposes  in  view:  first,  it  should  be  adequate  and  certain 
in  its  protection  of  the  public  and  the  careful  operator:  second,  it 
should  be  practical  and  fair  in  its  taxation  for  highway  purposes :  and, 
lastly,  it  whould  be  practical  in  the  requirements  of  the  owner  and 
licensee  in  the  procedure  necessary  to  secure  registration  or  license. 

Connecticut's  first  motor  vehicle  law  was  enacted  in  1901  as  a 
section  of  twenty-five  lines,  and  seemed  to  have  been  enacted  with  only 
the  purpose  in  view  of  protecting  the  public  and  that  crudely  and  un- 
fairly to  the  motorist.  The  provision  concerning  the  speed  limit  was 
as  follows: 

No  motor  vehicle  shall  be  run  on  any  highway  or  public  place  outside  the 
limits  of  a  city  at  a  speed  to  exceed  fifteen  miles  an  hour:  and  no  such  vehicle 
shall,  on  any  highway  or  public  place,  within  the  limits  of  any  city,  be  run  to 
exceed  twelve  miles  an  hour. 

It  had  hardly  become  a  law  before  the  enterprising  constabulary 
in  the  various  towns  saw  for  themselves  a  harvest  in  fees  for  arrests 
and  allowances :  so  they  proceeded  to  mark  off  a  course,  lie  in  wait  for 
some  unsuspecting  motorist,  stop  him  with  a  red  flag,  and  proceed 
to  place  him  under  arrest.  His  trial  often  amounted  to  nothing  but 
a  computation  as  to  the  amount  of  fees  necessary  to  go  around  among 
those  arms  of  justice.  The  idea  of  protecting  the  public  did  not  enter 
into  it,  and  yet  I  will  venture  to  say  that,  crude  as  it  was,  it  was  in 
advance  of  the  provisions  of  the  laws  of  many  other  States  because 
Connecticut  was  a  pioneer  State  in  the  industry  and  the  "Locomobile," 
" Pope-Hartford, "  "Columbia,"  "Corbin,"  and  other  motor  vehicles 
were  manufactured  in  the  State  and  had  been  widely  advertised,  and 
there  are  now  some  states  which  have  not  yet  progressed  in  the  idea 
of  a  reasonable  speed  beyond  that  of  our  1901  law,  either  in  the  pro- 
visions of  the  law  itself  or  of  justice  in  enforcing  it. 


THE  MOTOR  VEHICLE  LAW  OF  CONNECTICUT         163 

The  other  provisions  of  this  law  where  reasonable  and  sensible  and 
were  as  follows: 

Upon  approaching  a  crossing  of  intersecting  streets  or  roads,  the  person 
having  charge  of  the  power  of  such  vehicle  shall  have  such  vehicle  under  control, 
and  shall  reduce  the  speed  of  such  vehicle  until  said  crossing  of  such  street  or 
road  shall  have  been  passed.  Upon  meeting  or  passing  any  vehicle  drawn  by  a 
horse,  the  person  having  charge  of  the  power  of  such  motor  vehicle  shall  reduce 
its  speed,  and  if  the  horse  drawing  said  vehicle  appears  to  be  frightened,  the 
person  in  charge  of  said  motor  vehicle  shall  cause  said  motor  vehicle  to  come 
to  a  stop.  Wherever  the  term  "motor  vehicle"  is  used  in  this  section,  it  shall 
include  all  vehicles  propelled  by  any  power  other  than  muscular,  excepting 
the  cars  of  electric  and  steam  railways  and  other  motor  vehicles  running  only 
upon  rails  or  tracks.  No  city,  town,  or  borough,  shall  have  any  power  to  make 
any  ordinance,  by  law  or  resolution  respecting  the  speed  of  motor  vehicles  and 
no  ordinance,  by-law,  or  resolution,  heretofore  or  hereafter  made  by  any  city, 
town,  or  borough,  in  repsect  to  motor  vehicles  shall  have  any  force  or  effect. 
The  mayor  of  any  city,  the  selectmen  of  any  town,  or  the  warden  of  any  borough, 
may,  upon  any  special  occasion,  or  whenever  in  their  judgment,  it  may  be  deemed 
advisiable,  grant  permits  to  any  person  or  persons  or  to  the  public  to  run  such 
motor  vehicles  during  a  specified  time  or  until  such  permit  is  revoked,  upon 
specified  portions  of  the  public  ways  or  highways  of  such  city,  town,  or  borough 
at  any  rate  of  speed  and  may  annex  such  other  reasonable  conditions  to  such 
permits  as  they  may  deem  proper.  Any  person  violating  any  of  the  provisions 
of  this  section  shall  be  fined  not  more  than  two  hundred  dollars  for  each  offense. 

It  will  be  observed  that  there  were  no  provisions  in  this  law  for 
requiring  the  registration  or  licensing  of  operators  or  of  motor  vehicles, 
nor  any  provisions  providing  for  the  taxation  of  motor  vehicles  as 
revenue  for  the  repair  of  highways. 

In  the  year  1903  a  law  was  enacted  which  was  more  liberal  than 
the  law  of  1901,  in  that  it  changed  the  speed  limit  so  that  it  was  fair 
to  the  motorist  so  far  as  highways  in  small  towns  were  concerned. 
The  law  reads  as  follows: 

No  motor  vehicle  shall  be  run  on  any  highways  or  public  place  at  a  rate  of 
speed  dangerous  to  life  or  property,  or  on  any  highway  or  public  place  outside 
the  limits  of  any  city  or  borough  at  a  rate  of  speed  to  exceed  fifteen  miles  an 
hour,  or  any  highway  or  public  place  within  the  limits  of  any  city  or  borough 
at  a  rate  of  speed  to  exceed  twelve  miles  an  hour. 

The  apparent  intention  of  this  law  was  to  make  the  speed  limit  no 
more  than  was  reasonable,  rather  than  to  make  an  absolute  limit 
outside  of  cities  and  boroughs:  but  it  failed  to  remedy  the  abuse  of 
the  law  upon  the  part  of  those  whose  duty  it  was  to  enforce  it. 


164  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

The  law  of  1903  also  provided  for  a  registration  of  motor  vehicles 
which  consisted  of  a  certificate  which  both  registered  the  car  and 
licensed  the  owner  to  drive  the  car.  The  only  requirement  as  to  a 
marker  was  that  a  number  corresponding  to  the  registration  should  be 
displayed  on  the  rear  of  the  car.  The  fee  was  one  dollar  to  compensate 
the  state  for  the  expense  of  registration. 

At  the  session  of  the  general  assembly,  held  in  1905,  a  change  was 
again  made  in  regard  to  the  speed  limit,  but  which  remedied  but 
little  the  possible  abuse  under  the  law  by  prosecuting  officers.  This 
provision  read  as  follows: 

No  person  shall  operate  a  motor  vehicle  on  the  public  highways  of  this  state 
at  a  rate  of  speed  greater  than  is  reasonable  and  proper,  having  regard  to  the 
width,  traffic,  and  use  of  the  highway,  or  so  as  to  endanger  the  property  or  life 
or  limb  of  any  person,  or,  in  any  event,  within  the  limits  of  any  city  or  borough 
at  a  greater  rate  of  speed  than  1  mile  in  five  minutes,  or  outside  the  limits  of 
any  city  or  borough  at  a  greater  rate  of  speed  than  1  mile  in  three  minutes. 

This  law  provided  that  a  metal  plate  or  marker  for  each  motor 
vehicle  should  be  furnished  by  the  secretary  of  the  State  upon  the 
payment  of  the  actual  cost  of  such  marker,  not  exceeding  $1,  besides 
the  payment  of  $1  for  registration.  These  were  practically  all  of 
the  changes  which  were  made. 

So  that,  for  the  first  six  years  of  legislation,  there  were  no  provi- 
sions requiring  a  tax  of  the  owner  to  be  used  for  the  construction  and 
repair  of  highways,  although  these  were  beginning  to  show  a  marked 
impairment  as  a  result  of  use  by  the  motorist.  Neither  had  there 
been  any  provision  in  the  law  granting  the  power  to  the  secretary  of 
suspending  or  revoking  licenses  or  registrations  in  order  to  protect 
the  public  against  reckless  or  careless  drivers. 

The  legislature  of  1907  again  changed  the  law  in  relation  to  the 
speed  limit,  as  follows: 

If  the  rate  of  speed  of  a  motor  vehicle  operated  on  the  public  highways  of  this 
state  exceeds  twenty-five  miles  and  hour  for  the  distance  of  one-eight  of  a 
mile,  such  rate  of  speed  shall  be  prima  facie  evidence  that  the  person  operating 
such  motor  vehicle  is  operating  the  same  at  a  rate  of  speed  greater  than  is  reason- 
able and  proper  and  in  violation  of  the  provisions  of  this  section. 

This  meant  that  the  dr'ver  was  not  limited  to  any  particular  speed, 
but  if  he  exceeded  25  miles  an  hour  the  burden  rested  upon  him  to 
prove  that,  notwithstanding  such  speed,  it  was  not  unreasonable, 
considering  the  width,  use  and  traffic  of  the  highway.  This  was  a 
fair  law,  both  for  the  public  and  the  operator, 

The  fees  required  -  nder  the  provisions  of  the  law  of  1907  were  as 


THE  MOTOR   VEHICLE   LAW   OF   CONNECTICUT  165 

follows:  Three  dollars  for  each  certificate  of  registration  of  motor 
vehicles,  other  than  motor  cycles,  having  a  rating  of  less  than  20 
horse  power,  $5  for  each  motor  vehicle  having  a  rating  of  20  horse 
power  and  less  than  30  horse  power,  and  $10  for  each  motor  vehicle 
having  a  rating  of  30  horse  power  or  more,  and  if  such  motor  vehicle 
has  two  ratings  of  horse  power  the  fee  to  be  based  on  the  higher  rating: 
fifty  cent  for  each  certificate  of  registration  of  a  motor  cycle,  and  50 
cents  for  the  license  to  operate  a  motor  cycle,  and  $2  for  each  license 
to  operate. 

The  revenue  collected  under  this  law  was  as  follows : 

In  1908  from  5700  registrations $10,328.00 

In  1909  from  8000  registrations $58,534.65 

This  included  five  registrations  of  manufacturers  and  127  of  dealers. 

The  law  of  1907  also  contained  the  first  provisions  giving  the  secre- 
tary of  State  the  power  to  suspend  and  revoke  licenses  and  registra- 
tions, but  the  weakness  of  the  law  lay  in  the  fact  that  when  such  sus- 
pensions or  revocations  were  made  they  could  be  made  only  upon  due 
hearing,  and  at  such  a  hearing  the  secretary  had  no  power  to  summon 
witnesses  or  take  depositions,  nor  was  the  testimony  required  to  be 
under  oath,  so  that  he  was  obliged  to  decide  cases  upon  statements 
not  given  under  oath.  From  a  decision  upon  such  a  hearing  the 
licensee  could  take  an  appeal  to  the  Superior  Court,  should  the  find- 
ing of  the  Secretary  be  adverse  to  him:  so  that  little,  if  any  effort 
could  be  made  toward  the  elimination  of  the  reckless  operator,  in 
order  to  protect  the  public  and  the  safe  operator.  The  only  safe  sus- 
pension that  could  be  made  was  that  made  after  a  second  or  third 
conviction  for  some  offense  against  the  provisions  of  the  motor 
vehicle  law.  This  evidence  was  provided  for  in  the  law  by  requiring 
courts  to  file  abstracts  of  cases  tried  before  them  with  the  secretary, 
but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  records  fail  to  show  that  there  appeared 
any  record  of  a  single  case  where  the  party  had  been  twice  convicted. 

This  law  was  more  practical  in  its  provisions  for  the  securing  of 
licenses  and  registrations  than  any  that  preceded  it,  in  that  it  pro- 
vided that  the  license  or  registration  could  be  issued  by  card,  which 
was  made  out  upon  the  receipt  of  an  application  card,  which  was 
filed  alphabetically  as  an  original  and  a  duplicate  filed  in  numerical 
order  to  correspond  with  the  number  of  the  license  or  registration, 
so  that  the  owner  or  a  licensee  could  be  ascertained  by  reference  either 
to  number  or  name.  The  only  difference  between  the  license  and 
registration  being  that  the  applicant  for  a  registration  received  a 


166  AMERICAN  ROAD   CONGRESS 

certificate  while  an  applicant  for  a  license  received  a  card.  These 
methods  have  been  retained  throughout  the  changes  made  in  the  law 
and  are  now  in  use. 

The  three  ideals  of  a  perfect  law  were  more  nearly  realized,  however, 
in  the  next  alteration  in  the  law  which  was  made  in  1909.  This  law 
gave  the  secretary  larger  power  with  regard  to  revocation  of  registra- 
tion and  the  elimination  of  the  reckless  driver :  it  gave  him  power  in 
the  hearings  before  him  to  summon  witnesses  and  take  depositions, 
take  the  testimony  under  oath  and  in  some  cases  to  dispose  of  causes 
without  hearing.  Under  this  law  an  active  campaign  was  commenced 
toward  eliminating  fraudulent  registration  and  reckless  or  careless 
operators.  To  that  end  a  newspaper  bureau  was  subscribed  to,  and 
every  conviction  of  a  serious  nature  was  investigated.  Complaints 
against  operators  were  acted  upon  as  soon  as  received.  It  was  not 
long  before  it  was  discovered  that  this  had  a  salutary  effect  upon  oper- 
ators, and  that  aggrieved  persons  made  their  complants  to  the  secre- 
tary instead  of  making  them  to  the  prosecuting  authorities,  where 
the  employer  of  a  reckless  operator  would  pay  damages  and  settle 
the  case  and  the  operator,  continue  to  be  a  menace  to  safe  operators 
and  the  public.  The  operator  became  the  best  observer  of  his  fellow 
operators,  and  while  he  did  not  desire  to  make  a  criminal  of  him  by 
complaining  of  his  heedlessness,  he  could  have  him  summoned  before 
the  secretary  and  at  least  given  a  severe  reprimand  which  had  a 
lasting  effect  when  he  was  informed  that  any  further  complaint 
would  mean  a  revocation  of  his  license  and  his  entire  elimination  as  a 
driver  in  this  State. 

The  following  will  give  some  idea  of  the  cases  heard  and  disposed 
of  during  the  year: 

Accidents,  injuries  to  vehicles 81 

Accidents,  injuries  to  persons 51 

Deaths 21 

Violations 20 

Reckless  driving 133 

Other  causes 29 

Total 335 

Refusal  to  grant  licenses, 8 

Revocations 27 

Suspensions 32 

Total .  67 


THE   MOTOR   VEHICLE   LAW   OF   CONNECTICUT  167 

The  fees  for  registration  of  motor  vehicles  were  changed  to  a  fee 
fixed  according  to  horse  power,  of  50  cents  per  horse  power  of  every 
car  less  than  25  horse  power,  and  60  cents  per  horse  power  above  25,  and 
a  pro  rata  reduction  allowed  for  every  car  registered  during  the  last 
half  of  the  year.  The  revenue  collected  under  this  law  was  as  follows : 
From  10,700  registrations  in  1910,  $162,375.10,  and  from  13,760 
registrations  in  1911,  $230,120.89.  In  this  is  included  the  fees  from 
206  registrations  of  dealers  and  8  registrations  of  manufacturers. 

The  revenue  was  greater  under  this  law  owing  to  the  fact  it  had 
been  discovered  that,  under  the  law  of  1907,  cars  registered  once  were 
run  under  the  one  official  set  of  markers  sent  at  the  time  of  registra- 
tion for  two  or  three  years  thereafter  without  again  registering, 
and  to  remedy  this  evasion  of  the  law  the  office  had  the  law  of  1909 
so  drafted  as  to  make  all  registrations  expire  January  1,  of  each  year, 
and  adopted  the  method  of  changing  the  color  of  the  markers  each 
year,  so  that  the  police  and  constabulary  could  tell  immediately  by 
the  color  of  the  marker  attached  to  the  car  the  year  it  was  issued  for, 
and  thus  detect  attempted  evasion  of  the  law. 

In  carrying  out  the  provisions  of  the  law  the  number  of  markers 
necessary  for  the  year  was  estimated  and  ordered.  The  office  secured 
by  means  of  a  contract  with  a  local  agent,  the  shipment  of  such  markers 
to  the  owners,  and  as  a  result  of  this  arrangement  the  owner  could 
receive  his  markers  as  soon  as  his  registration  was  completed,  pro- 
viding the  express  company  worked  as  fast  with  the  markers  as  Uncle 
Sam  did  with  the  mail. 

Under  this  law  it  was  deemed  advisable  to  form  a  separate  depart- 
ment in  the  office  of  the  secretary  known  as  the  motor  vehicle  depart- 
ment, of  which  the  office  force  now  consists  of  a  chief  clerk  and  eight 
assistants. 

The  mode  of  procedure  necessary  to  obtain  a  registration  is  as  fol- 
lows: 

A  blank  card  is  furnished  the  applicant  which  must  be  filled  in 
with  the  name  and  address  of  the  person  requesting  the  registration, 
together  with  a  full  description  of  the  car  to  be  registered  and  must 
then  be  returned  to  the  office  with  the  proper  fees.  The  office  records 
are  then  examined  to  ascertain  if  the  applicant  has  previously  held 
a  registration;  if  so,  the  same  number  is  assigned  to  him,  but  if  not, 
then  a  new  serial  number  is  given  to  the  applicant.  The  card  is  then 
passed  to  the  billing  clerk,  who  computes  the  fees  and  compares  the 
remittance,  and,  if  correct,  entry  is  made  in  the  cash  book  and  certifi- 


168  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

cate  is  made  out  and  forwarded  to  the  applicant.  If  the  fee  sent  is 
not  sufficient,  the  clerk  bills  the  applicant  for  amount  due  and  regis- 
tration is  held  up  until  the  correct  amount  is  received. 

At  the  close  of  each  day's  business  a  list  is  made  of  all  registrations 
and  sent  to  our  agents  who  distribute  the  markers.  This  list  is  made 
in  triplicate,  the  original  being  in  the  form  of  perforated  labels  which 
are  torn  off  and  attached  to  the  package  containing  the  markers, 
the  second  one  is  used  as  a  receipt  from  the  express  company,  being 
signed  by  their  agent,  and  the  third  copy  is  kept  as  an  office  record. 
Another  clerk  then  takes  the  original  application  and  makes  out 
two  office  stub  cards  (one  carbon  copy,)  the  original  and  both  copies 
being  passed  to  another  clerk  who  numbers  all  three  cards  to  corre- 
spond to  the  number  assigned,  and  these  are  then  passed  to  the  filing 
clerk,  who  files  the  original  in  alphabetical  order,  one  stub  in  the 
numerical  file  and  the  other  two  in  a  file  arranged  by  towns,  so  when 
completed  our  records  stand  finished  in  the  following  way:  (1)  An 
alphabetical  file;  (2)  A  numerical  file;  (3)  A  location  file. 

In  this  way  we  can  readily  refer  to  any  owner  either  by  name,  by 
the  number  of  his  registration  or  by  the  town  in  which  he  resides. 

The  same  procedure  is  followed  in  the  case  of  motor  cycle  owners 
and  operators  of  both  motor  vehicles  and  motor  cycles,  except  that 
they  are  not  filed  by  localities. 

The  three  ideals  affording  a  perfect  law  were  worked  out  in  the  law 
of  1911,  which  was  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  after  many 
public  hearings  and  conferences  with  the  State  and  local  automobile 
associations,  the  secretary  and  the  State  Grangers. 

By  this  law  the  secretary  was  given  full  power  to  suspend  a  license 
for  any  cause  which  he  deemed  sufficient,  with  or  without  a  hearing. 
Since  January  1,  1911,  772  cases  have  been  investigated,  65  hearings 
held  and  78  suspensions  made. 

In  some  of  our  city  courts  a  system  has  been  adopted  of  having  a 
city  prosecutor  enter  a  nolle  upon  the  payment  of  costs,  in  cases  of 
violation  of  the  motor  vehicle  law.  This  resulted  in  a  two-fold  evil ; 
it  allowed  some  habitual  offender  to  escape  without  the  secretary  being 
informed  that  he  had  been  before  the  court,  unless  it  was  discovered 
by  the  way  of  newspaper  report,  and  it  often  compelled  a  driver  to 
pay  a  sum  of  money  rather  then  be  subjected  to  notoriety  or  to  employ 
counsel,  even  though  he  felt  he  was  not  guilty.  This  was  changed 
by  the  law  so  that  both  the  record  and  the  amount  paid  above  costs 
were  to  be  returned  to  the  secretary. 


THE  MOTOR  VEHICLE  LAW  OF  CONNECTICUT         169 

Another  change,  and  that  was  due  largely  to  an  agreement  which 
was  entered  into  by  Connecticut  with  Massachusetts,  was,  that  if 
any  Connecticut  operator  was  arrested  in  Massachusetts  and  was 
released  on  his  own  recognizance  and  failed  to  appear  in  the  courts 
of  that  State,  he  should  be  given  the  alternative  of  so  appearing  or 
lose  his  license.  This  led,  after  having  been  enforced  in  one  instance, 
to  the  passage  of  a  law  allowing  an  operator  guilty  of  some  minor  offense 
to  be  released  upon  his  own  recognizance,  and  extended  to  the  citizens 
of  other  States  which  granted  like  precedure  to  residents  of  the  State. 
The  office  then  solicited  the  cooperation  of  neighboring  States,  but 
the  Bay  State  was  the  only  one  to  respond  and  has  been  working  in 
absolute  harmony  with  us,  while  New  York  has  asked  us  to  pay  for 
a  certified  copy  of  record  of  a  registration  in  order  to  convict  one  of 
its  residents  who  was  driving  a  machine  under  New  York  markers 
without  a  registration. 

Inasmuch  as  the  States  of  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  were 
working  in  harmony,  the  passage  was  secured  of  a  provision  requiring 
a  garage  keeper  to  maintain  a  record  of  all  transient  cars  left  or  stored 
with  him,  together  with  a  record  of  their  owners  and  operators.  Under 
the  old  law  an  operator  after  an  accident  could  remove  the  markers  of 
the  car  when  in  a  garage  and  give  some  fictitious  name,  or  refuse  to 
disclose  his  identity,  and  no  one  know  anything  about  car  owner  or 
operator.  If  the  garage  keeper  refused  to  be  silent  about  it,  the  opera- 
tor could  have  someone  else  take  the  car  in  charge.  Now,  he  can  do 
so  only  at  the  risk  of  incriminating  the  garage  keeper  who  attempts 
secrecy. 

With  the  advent  of  the  official  number  plate,  there  had  appeared 
a  class  of  geniuses  who  had  discovered  that  they  could  make  old 
number  plates  look  like  new,  and  to  eliminate  this  abuse  it  was  pro- 
vided that  without  any  alternative  the  secretary  was  to  suspend  a 
license  or  registration  where  the  evidences  of  registration  or  license 
were  changed  or  permitted  to  be  used  by  other  than  the  party  entitled 
to  use  the  same. 

A  large  class  of  dealers  appeared  on  the  registry  list  of  the  office 
who  had  no  place  of  business  and  did  no  actual  buying  and  selling  of 
cars.  The  only  purpose  of  the  most  of  this  class  in  registering  was  to 
secure  the  registration  of  a  number  of  cars  at  a  flat  rate.  To  prevent 
this  the  law  was  so  changed  that  to  have  a  dealers  registration  the 
applicant  must  have  an  established  place  of  business,  and  also  file 
a  certificate  of  his  appointment  as  agent  for  the  sale  of  cars,  and  to 


170  AMERICAN   ROAD    CONGRESS 

file  semi-annually  a  statement  of  the  number  of  cars  bought  or  sold. 
If  these  fail  to  show  reason  why  an  applicant  should  be  registered  as 
a  dealer,  the  registration  is  cancelled. 

There  had  also  appeared  a  number  of  manufacturers  who  were 
driving  cars  under  the  factory  number,  which  were  absolutely  private 
cars.  This  evasion  of  fees  was  provided  for  by  limiting  the  use  of 
manufacturers  markers  and  registration  to  cars  used  only  for  testing 
and  demonstrating  purposes.  Again  some  manufacturers  had  only 
three  or  four  cars  registered,  for  which  they  paid  only  $1  per  engine 
and  these  were  not  sold,  and  although  they  manufactured  them  it 
was  more  for  their  own  use  than  that  of  sale.  This  law  was  then 
changed  so  as  to  require  a  minimum  fee  of  $25  to  be  paid  in  case  the 
number  of  cars  did  not  exceed  25. 

The  law  was  altered  as  to  the  fee  per  horse  power,  making  it  a  flat 
fee  of  50  cents  per  horse  power.  It  provided  for  a  fee  for  commercial 
cars,  fixing  the  fee  according  to  the  carrying  capacity  of  the  car,  thus 
providing  more  equitably  for  the  contribution  of  revenue  for  highways 
by  the  owners  of  commercial  cars. 

After  due  consideration  it  was  decided  to  make  Connecticut  a  wide 
open  State  to  non-resident  owners  and  operators  residing  in  States 
granting  to  Connecticut  owners  and  operators  like  privileges,  al- 
though the  law  came  very  nearly  specifying  New  Jersey  as  an  excep- 
tion, for  the  reason  that  so  many  Connecticut  automobilists  had  been 
obliged  to  register  and  license  in  that  State  almost  as  soon  as  the  odor 
of  gasoline  from  their  cars  had  reached  the  border  of  that  State. 

The  1911  law  protects  the  public  and  the  safe  drivers,  and  adopts 
a  more  practical  method  of  licensing  operators  than  examination, 
namely,  of  requiring  the  applicant  to  have  driven  at  least  100  miles, 
and  guards  against  the  obtaining  of  licenses  of  registration  by  mis- 
representation by  providing  that  any  misstatement  of  facts  in  an 
application  for  license  or  registration  renders  the  same  void. 

We  keep  on  record  all  complaints  made  to  us  against  operators 
and  all  newspapers  information  against  them.  The  operator  is  not, 
as  in  some  States,  and  particularly  in  New  York,  when  charged  with 
a  violation  of  the  law,  prosecuted,  examined,  and  nothing  done  toward 
suspending  his  license  or  eliminating  him  as  an  operator  until  he  is 
adjudged  a  criminal.  In  Connecticut  he  is  brought  before  the  secre- 
tary, the  matter  investigated  and  upon  the  report  of  the  secretary,  his 
license  is  suspended  or  revoked,  from  which  action  he  may  appeal 
to  the  courts.  Thus  Connecticut  is  now  having  fewer  criminal  viola- 
tors and  more  careful  operators. 


MOTOR   VEHICLE   LAWS  AND   GOOD   ROADS  171 

In  collecting  of  evidences  against  violators  of  the  law,  the  State  was 
handicapped  in  that  it  had  no  special  force  which  by  law  it  could  call 
upon  for  such  service.  To  remedy  this  the  power  was  conferred  on 
the  secretary  to  call  upon  the  State  police  for  its  services,  both  in  the 
prosecution  of  cases  and  in  the  securing  of  evidence  for  the  hearings 
before  him. 

The  Connecticut  law  enacted  in  1911  has  approached  more  closely 
the  ideal  law  than  that  of  any  other  State  in  that  it  affords  the  greatest 
protection  to  the  public  and  the  sane  and  safe  operator:  it  has  the 
most  fair,  equitable  and  practical  system  of  application  for  an  issuing 
of  licenses  and  registrations  and  the  fees  for  the  same  are  fixed  and 
reasonable. 

Connecticut  does  not  take  the  money  derived  from  its  motor  vehicle 
law  and  turn  it  into  the  treasury  for  the  general  purposes  of  the  State 
but  causes  it  to  be  paid  over  to  the  highway  commission  of  the  State 
to  be  used  in  keeping  the  State  roads,  so-called,  in  repair,  so  that 
every  cent  paid  by  the  owner  or  operator  of  a  motor  vehicle  is  used 
directly  for  the  benefit  of  the  pathway  over  which  he  travels  and  he 
thus  in  effect  receives  a  return  of  a  portion  of  the  money  he  pays  the 
State. 

In  conclusion,  I  desire  to  say  that  Connecticut  has  the  model  motor 
vehicle  law,  that  her  highways  are  well  built  and  kept  in  repair,  and 
that  she  welcomes  the  citizens  of  sister  States  within  her  borders. 

RELATION  OF  MOTOR  VEHICLE  LAWS  TO  GOOD 

ROADS 

SIDNEY  S.  GORHAM 
Chicago,  III. 

Inasmuch  as  this  is  a  Good  Roads  Convention  I  take  it  that  an 
extended  discussion  of  the  motor  vehicle  laws  of  the  various  States  will 
be  inappropriate,  but  it  may  be  that  a  brief  discussion  of  their  rela- 
tion to,  and  influence  upon  laws  providing  for  the  building  of  good 
roads  may  not  be  without  interest. 

In  Illinois  prior  to  the  time  when  the  State  law  went  into  effect  no 
special  provision  was  made  for  the  disposition  of  the  fines  imposed  for 
a  violation  of  the  ordinances  regulating  the  use  and  speed  of  motor 
vehicles,  but  the  various  statutes  of  our  State  which  have  been 
in  effect  since  1907  have  provided  that  all  fines  imposed  for  a  violation 


172  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

of  their  provisions  shall  be  utilized  for  the  building  or  maintenance  of 
the  roads  of  the  municipality  or  road  district  in  which  the  offenses 
were  committed.  The  present  law  provides  that  all  fees  paid  for 
the  registration  of  motor  vehicles  and  the  examination  and  licensing  of 
chauffeurs  less  the  cost  of  procuring  and  delivering  the  registration 
certificates,  seals  and  number  plates  shall  be  deposited  in  the  State 
treasury  and  there  set  apart  as  a  special  fund  to  be  known  as  the 
"road  fund,"  which 

Shall  be  used  solely  for  the  permanent  improvement  of  the  highways  of  the 
State  outside  of  any  incorporated  city,  town  or  village,  and  shall  be  subject 
to  appropriation  by  the  general  assembly  for  that  purpose  only.  The  amount 
appropriated  and  expended  for  such  road  fund  in  any  county  for  the  permanent 
improvement  of  the  highways  within  its  limits  in  any  one  year  shall  be  in  the 
same  proportion  as  the  amount  levied  in  each  county  for  road  and  bridge  tax 
bears  to  the  total  amount  of  the  road  and  bridge  tax  levied  in  all  the  counties 
of  the  State. 

In  Illinois,  as  in  a  number  of  other  States,  the  amount  of  the  regis- 
tration fee  is  based  upon  the  horse-power  of  the  motor  vehicle  to  be 
registered  and  this,  it  seems  to  me,  is  an  appropriate  basis  in  those 
States  in  which  the  payment  of  the  registration  fee  is  in  lieu  of  all 
other  taxes  either  general  or  special.  In  our  State,  however,  under 
the  provisions  of  the  constitution  as  it  now  stands,  this  is  not  an 
appropriate  basis  for  the  fixing  of  the  amount  of  registration  fees  for 
the  reason  that  a  constitutional  amendment  will  be  necessary  before 
the  legislature  shall  have  the  power  to  declare  that  the  payment  of 
the  registration  fee  shall  be  in  lieu  of  all  other  taxes.  In  perhaps  no 
other  State  do  the  motorists  directly  contribute  so  largely  to  the  funds 
provided  for  road  improvement  as  in  Illinois.  Not  only  is  the  motorist 
required  by  our  laws  to  pay  a  personal  property  tax  on  his  car  in 
addition  to  the  registration  fee  varying  from  $4  to  $10,  depending 
upon  the  horse-power  of  the  car  registered,  but  he  is  also  required 
by  many  of  the  cities  and  villages  to  pay  a  wheel  tax  of  from  $10 
to  $20  per  year  before  he  shall  be  permitted  to  drive  his  car  within  the 
limits  of  such  municipalities. 

The  provisions  of  the  statute  of  1911,  above  quoted,  requiring  the 
moneys  constituting  the  "road  fund"  to  be  expended  for  the  perma- 
nent improvment  of  the  highways  outside  of  cities,  villages  and  towns 
amount  in  effect  to  the  imposition  of  a  wheel  tax  for  the  benefit  of 
the  country  roads. 


MOTOR   VEHICLE   LAWS   AND   GOOD   ROADS  173 

HIGHWAY  COMMISSION 

At  the  last  session  of  our  legislature  a  bill  was  introduced  providing 
for  the  appointment  in  each  county  of  a  superintendent  of  roads, 
who  should  have  general  supervision  over  the  country  roads  within 
his  county  and  whose  salary  should  be  paid  out  of  the  "road  fund" 
provided  for  by  the  terms  of  the  motor  vehicle  law.  This  bill  failed 
to  pass,  which  may  not  be  regarded  as  an  unqualified  calamity  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  the  aggregate  salaries  of  the  county  superintend- 
ents would  have  amounted  to  a  considerable  proportion  of  the  "road 
fund. "  There  was  also  introduced  a  bill  providing  for  the  application 
of  the  "road  fund"  to  the  building  of  a  State  highway  running  from 
Chicago  in  a  southwesterly  direction  to  East  St.  Louis,  from  Chicago 
in  a  westerly  direction  across  the  northern  portion  of  the  State  and 
from  East  St.  Louis  in  an  easterly  direction  across  the  southern  por- 
tion of  the  State.  This  bill  also  failed  to  pass,  but  a  concerted  effort 
will  be  made  at  the  next  session  of  our  legislature  to  procure  the  enact- 
ment of  a  bill  similar  to  the  one  last  mentioned.  That  such  a  bill 
will  have  the  support  of  the  members  of  the  legislature  through  whose 
districts  the  proposed  trunk  lines  of  road  will  run,  seems  reasonable 
to  believe,  but  it  is  feared  that  members  from  other  districts  will  oppose 
such  a  bill  upon  the  theory  that  the  present  disposition  of  the  "road 
fund"  is  more  equitable.  While  the  automobile  is  a  long  distance 
vehicle,  the  use  of  which  is  not  confined  to  the  immediate  neighbor- 
hood in  which  the  owner  lives,  it  would  seem  to  me  that  if  a  trunk 
line  or  a  road  is  not  to  be  built  out  of  the  "road  fund"  it  would  be 
more  equitable  to  provide  that  this  fund  be  distributed  among  the 
counties  in  proportion  to  the  contributions  of  the  motorists  residing 
in  each  county,  but  this  disposition  of  the  fund  will  doubtless  meet 
with  opposition  from  those  portions  of  the  State  in  which  few  motor 
cars  are  owned. 

It  has  frequently  been  stated  that  the  aggregate  road  and  bridge  tax 
annually  levied  and  collected  in  our  State  amounts  to  $10,000,000, 
and,  while  this  may  be  exaggerated,  I  think  without  doubt  the  amount 
now  approximates  $7,000,000.  Under  our  present  system  the  country 
roads  are  built  and  maintained  by  highway  commissioners  who  are 
paid  a  per  diem,  and  the  cost  of  administration  under  this  system  mate- 
rially reduces  the  amount  available  for  actual  use  in  road  building 
and  maintenance.  It  seems  to  me  that  an  excellent  nucleus  for  a 
system  of  hard  road  throughout  the  State  would  be  furnished  by  a 
trunk  line  running  from  the  northern  to  the  southern  part  of  the  State. 


174  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

The  advantages  of  this  road  would  strongly  appeal  to  the  residents  of 
the  districts  through  which  it  ran  and  it  seems  reasonable  to  believe 
that  tributaries  would  soon  be  built  connecting  this  trunk  line  with 
the  districts  on  either  side.  These  tributaries  would  probably  be  short 
at  first,  but  would  be  rapidly  extended  on  either  side  of  the  main 
trunk  line  until  the  more  thickly  populated  sections  of  the  State  would 
become  a  network  of  hard  roads  leading  into  the  main  trunk  line .  Under 
present  conditions  the  road  and  bridge  fund  is  expended  in  the  build- 
ing and  maintenance  of  short  roads  beginning  nowhere  and  ending 
nowhere,  each  township  or  road  district  acting  independently  of  the 
adjoining  townships  and  road  districts. 

Perhaps  it  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  speak  briefly  of  the  develop- 
ment of  the  motor  vehicle  laws  of  the  various  States  and  of  the  ten- 
dency of  such  laws  in  the  future.  As  is  not  unusual  the  pendulum 
has  swung  from  the  extreme  of  permitting  each  municipality  to  fix 
its  own  speed  laws,  registration  laws,  etc.,  to  the  other  extreme  of 
taking  from  the  local  authorities  all  power  in  this  direction. 

At  first  the  right  of  local  self-govermenent  was  strenuously  asserted, 
but  the  confusion  resulting  from  the  use  of  number  plates  issued  by 
a  multitude  of  cities  and  villages  and  the  activities  of  the  unscrupulous 
speed  trap  operators  who  were  actuated  solely  by  mercenary  motives, 
and  whose  suppression  could  best  be  accomplished  by  the  adoption 
of  a  State  law  fixing  uniform  speed  limits  and  prohibiting  the  adoption 
of  local  ordinances,  gradually  led  to  a  change  of  opinion  on  the  part 
of  the  public  and  the  members  of  the  legislative  bodies  throughout 
the  country  and  resulted  in  the  enactment  in  most  of  the  States  of 
statutes  requiring  the  registration  of  cars  in  the  office  of  the  secretary 
of  State,  fixing  uniform  speed  limite  and  prohibiting  the  enforcement 
of  local  ordinances. 

The  earlier  statutes  prohibited  the  driving  of  a  car  in  excess  of  certain 
fixed  rates  of  speed,  but  the  later  tendency  has  been  to  prohibit  driv- 
ing faster  than  is  "reasonable  and  proper  having  regard  to  the  traffic 
and  the  use  of  the  way,  or  so  as  to  endanger  the  life  or  limb  or  injure 
the  property  of  any  person,"  and  to  make  a  rate  of  speed  in  excess  of 
a  given  rate  prima  fade  evidence  of  a  violation  of  this  provision. 
Illinois,  in  common  with  nearly  one-half  of  the  States  of  the  Union, 
where  similar  statutes  have  been  passed,  has  adopted  this  basis  and 
in  recognition  of  the  fact  that  different  conditions  obtain  in  the  larger 
cities  requiring  rules  and  regulations  which  are  unnecessary  in  the 
smaller  cities  and  villages  the  new  motor  vehicle  law  adopted  at  our 


MOTOR   VEHICLE   LAWS   AND    GOOD   ROADS  175 

last  session  of  the  legislature  provides  that  nothing  in  the  act  contained 
shall  be  construed. 

"As  affecting  the  power  of  municipal  corporations  to  make  and  enforce  ordi- 
nances, rules  and  regulations  affecting  motor  trucks  and  motor  driven  commer- 
cial vehicles  and  motor  vehicles  which  are  used  within  their  limits  for  public 
hire,  or  from  making  and  enforcing  reasonable  traffic  and  other  regulations, 
except  as  to  rates  of  speed  not  inconsistent  with  the  provisions  hereof." 

Pursuant  to  the  power  conferred  by  this  provision  an  ordinance  has 
recently  been  introduced  in  the  common  council  of  the  city  of  Chicago 
prohibiting  the  operation  of  any  car  in  such  a  manner  as  to  permit 
the  escape  therefrom  of  any  noxious  smoke,  gas,  steam  or  other  offen- 
sive odor;  making  it  unlawful  for  any  person  to  leave  a  motor  vehicle 
standing  within  15  feet  of  any  water  hydrant  used  by  the  fire  depart- 
ment for  the  purpose  of  extinguishing  fires;  making  traffic  regulations; 
prohibiting  the  use  of  the  muffler  cut-out,  and  the  use  of  a  bell,  horn 
or  other  signal  device,  except  as  a  warning  of  danger.  Reasonable 
traffic  regulations  can  best  be  adopted  by  the  local  authorites  to 
meet  local  conditions,  and,  while  in  the  open  country  there  is  no  serious 
objection  to  smoking  motors,  open  mufflers  and  the  unnecessary  use 
of  warning  signals,  they  may  become  a  public  nuisance  in  the  thickly 
settled  sections  of  cities  and  villages.  Modern  systems  of  motor  lubri- 
cation have  minimized  the  smoke  nuisance  and  I  take  it  this  problem 
will  solve  itself  in  the  near  future.  Personally  I  can  see  no  excuse 
for  running  mile  after  mile  through  city  streets  with  the  muffler 
open  and  the  practice  is  responsible  for  a  large  measure  of  the  present 
antagonism  against  the  motorist  and  his  car.  Upon  the  strength  of 
his  statement  that  it  was  necessary  in  order  that  he  might  get  his  car 
under  headway  promptly  and  thereby  avoid  a  serious  obstruction 
of  traffic  one  of  the  first  drivers  of  a  motor  car  arrested  for  a  violation 
of  the  Chicago  ordinance  prohibiting  the  use  of  the  muffler  cut-out 
was  discharged  by  the  court.  To  the  experienced  motorist  such  an 
excuse  is  silly  in  the  extreme  and  the  judge,  after  making  inquiries, 
promptly  fined  offenders  who  subsequently  appeared  before  him.  The 
unavoidable  noises  of  a  large  city  should  not  be  augmented  by  unneces- 
sary noises,  and  in  many  sections  of  the  country  "anti-noise"  crusades 
are  being  vigorously  waged.  The  warning  signal  has  been  the  subject 
of  no  little  criticism  and  it  is  urged  that  its  use  in  cities  should  be 
regulated  and  its  unnecessary  use  prohibited.  To  my  mind  one  of 
the  most  important  public  safe-guards  is  found  in  the  proper  use  of 


176  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

an  adequate  warning  signal  and  in  the  interest  of  all  concerned  every 
motorist  should  studiously  avoid  making  any  unnecessary  noise  with 
the  signal  with  which  his  car  is  equipped,  or  using  it  except  in  cases 
where  its  use  is  plainly  necessary.  It  will  not  be  disputed  that  the 
inadequate  warning  signal  wholly  fails  to  serve  the  purpose  for  which 
it  was  intended;  that  the  adequate  signal  must  be  dependable;  loud 
enough  to  be  heard  above  the  rattle  of  surrounding  traffic;  must  be 
harsh,  abrupt,  and  of  such  a  tone  as  to  instantly  convey  the  idea  of 
immediate  danger.  I  have  heard  it  argued  earnestly  and  with  un- 
doubted sincerity  that  the  use  of  warning  signals  in  cities  should  be 
prohibited,  but  I  confess  that  I  am  unable  to  follow  the  reasoning 
of  those  who  take  this  position.  It  frequently  happens  that  without 
fault  on  the  part  of  the  motorist  a  situation  suddenly  arises  which 
demands  the  instant  and  active  cooperation  of  the  driver  of  a  motor 
car,  and  the  person  in  danger,  if  a  serious  injury  is  to  be  averted,  and 
in  such  cases  an  adequate  warning  signal  must  be  used  promptly  and 
its  tone  should  be  so  startling  as  to  compel  immediate  attention. 

After  weeks  of  careful  and  painstaking  consideration  of  the  subject 
the  members  of  the  judiciary  committee  of  the  city  council  of  the 
city  of  Chicago,  all  lawyers  of  experience  and  recognized  ability,  have 
recommended  for  passage  an  ordinance  which  contains  among  other 
provisions  a  prohibition  against  the  use  as  a  warning  signal  of  any  device 
which  will  not  produce  an  abrupt  sound  sufficiently  loud  to  serve  as  an 
adequate  warning  of  danger.  This  section  also  provides  that  it  shall 
be  unlawful  for  the  operator  of  any  motor  vehicle  to  make  or  cause  to 
be  made  any  unnecessary  noise  with  his  signal  device,  or  to  use  it 
except  as  a  warning  of  danger.  So  far  as  I  know  this  is  the  first 
instance  in  which  a  legislative  body  has  recognized  the  importance 
and  required  the  use  of  a  signal  which  will  produce  an  abrupt  sound, 
and  the  ordinance  as  drafted  impresses  me  as  offering  a  sane  solution 
of  the  unnecessary  noise  problem  so  far  as  warning  signals  in  use  upon 
motor  cars  are  concerned. 

We  have  in  a  large  measure  solved  the  registration  and  speed  prob- 
lems, but  we  are  still  in  the  constructive  period  of  motor  car  legisla- 
tion and  we  should  all  use  our  best  endeavors  to  avoid  arousing  hostile 
public  opinion  concerning  these  other  questions  which  yet  remain 
unsolved. 


LOUISIANA   HIGHWAYS  177 

LOUISIANA  HIGHWAYS 

GERVAIS  LOMBARD 

Member  of  the  Board  of  State  Engineers  and  Acting  State  Highway 

Engineer 

In  Louisiana,  the  board  of  State  engineers  has,  for  many  years, 
been  entrusted  with  all  the  engineering  work  in  which  the  State  of 
Louisiana  was  directly  concerned. 

An  examination  of  the  reports  made  to  the  governor  of  the  State, 
biennially,  will  reveal  the  fact,  however,  that  one  of  the  tasks  entrusted 
to  the  board  of  State  engineers  so  greatly  overshadowed  all  the  others 
— as  to  absorb  practically  all  the  time  and  attention  of  the  depart- 
ment to  the  exclusion  of  the  other  necessary,  though  less  urgent, 
public  improvements.  Volumes  were  written  about  the  untold  energy 
and  the  millions  upon  millions  of  dollars  expended,  under  State  and 
government  direction,  on  the  gigantic  task  of  constructing  and  per- 
fecting the  systems  of  dikes  or  levees  to  protect  from  overflow  the 
12,160,000  acres  of  rich  alluvial  bottom  lands  in  our  State  which  would 
otherwise  be  annually  submerged  by  the  flood  waters  of  the  Missis- 
sippi River,  the  Red  River  of  the  South,  the  Atchaf alaya  River  and 
other  minor  streams;  while  only  casual  reference  was  made  to  such 
important  developments  as  drainage  and  highway  improvement. 

But,  thanks  to  the  indomitable  energy  of  those  to  whom  the  task 
was  allotted,  and  to  the  unflagging  interest  of  the  entire  citizenship 
of  the  State,  even  those  dwelling  in  the  uplands,  the  pinnacle  of  success, 
from  this  point  of  view,  has  about  been  reached.  Acknowledgment 
must  here  be  made  of  the  very  substantial  aid  rendered  in  later  years, 
in  the  construction  of  our  levee  system,  by  the  national  government. 

As  the  result  of  the  expenditure  of  some  $48,184,189.49,  of  which 
the  several  local  levee  districts  contributed  $15,533,733.47,  while  the 
State  aided  to  the  extent  of  $20,072,019.93,  and  the  balance  was 
provided  by  the  national  government,  a  great  system  of  levees  has 
been  constructed,  which  system  is  now  over  1600  miles  in  length, 
entailing  the  emplacement  of  over  225,000,000  cubic  yards  of  earth. 
By  comparison  this  is  nearly  twice  the  amount  of  earth  which  has 
been  and  is  still  to  be  excavated  through  the  Isthmus  of  Panama. 

In  spite  of  shifting  and  caving  banks,  which  have  destroyed  and 
rendered  necessary  the  rebuilding  and  reconstruction  of  some  25  per 
cent  of  the  system,  this  wonderful  work  has,  at  last,  reached  such  a 


178  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

stage  in  its  completion  as  to  permit  at  least  some  of  this  extraordinary 
energy  and  wealth  to  be  devoted  to  the  other  lines  of  development  so 
long  neglected. 

For  the  last  decade,  drainage  legislation  and  drainage  development 
has  been  growing  by  leaps  and  bounds,  and  logically  so,  as  the 
second  step  in  the  development  of  the  State,  and  now  requires  con- 
siderable attention  by  the  department;  while  for  the  last  two  years 
highway  improvement  has  been  taken  up  in  earnest  and  is  now  grow- 
ing to  such  proportions  as  to  necessitate  a  new  department  of  the 
board  of  State  engineers,  designated,  most  properly,  as  the  highway 
department. 

No  end  of  credit  is  due  the  several  governors  of  the  State  of  Louis- 
iana who  have  fathered  and  furthered  the  levee  and  the  drainage  devel- 
opment of  the  State,  and  their  names  will  go  down  to  posterity  as  the 
initiators  of  these  wonderful  engineering  achievements;  but,  it 
remained  for  our  present  encumbent,  His  Excellency,  Governor 
Jared  Y.  Sanders,  to  inaugurate  the  good  roads  movement  in  the 
State  on  a  practical  footing.  Governor  Sanders  is,  par  excellence, 
the  greatest  goods  roads  governor  in  the  Union.  I  doubt  if  there 
was  any  State  in  the  Union  which  could  boast  of  so  much  ignorance 
in  regard  to  scientific  highway  improvement,  or  which  had  worse 
roads  naturally.  With  such  conditions  confronting  him,  Governor 
Sanders  has,  not  only  awakened  sentiment  for  better  roads,  but  has, 
by  his  own  unceasing  efforts,  coerced  a  reluctant  populace  into  enact- 
ing one  of  the  best  highway  laws  ever  passed  in  any  State,  and  into 
subscribing  to  an  annual  State  tax  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  a 
State  highway  department,  and  inaugurating  a  system  of  scientific 
State  aid  highway  construction,  which,  though  it  has  been  in  existence 
less  than  one  year,  has  succeeded  in  making  substantial  demonstra- 
tions in  one-fifth  or  20  per  cent  of  the  counties  or  parishes  of  the  State, 
to  the  edification  and  delight  of  the  people.  The  movement  is  now 
spreading  with  great  and  increasing  rapidity.  Parish  after  parish 
has  fallen  into  line,  and  the  meagre  means  at  hand  for  State  aid  have 
fallen  far  short  of  the  needs  of  the  hour.  In  the  beginning  it  was 
necessary  to  beg,  cajole,  coerce,  and  even  to  threaten,  in  order  to 
get  the  police  juries  of  the  parishes  to  accept  State  aid  in  any  form. 
These  police  juries  had,  from  time  immemorial,  collected  substantial 
taxes  for  their  roads,  but,  however,  honestly  they  may  have  striven, 
they  have  failed  to  do  more  than  patch  work,  which  was  temporary 


LOUISIANA   HIGHWAYS  179 

and  inadequate  at  best,  because  they  did  not  work  along  comprehen- 
sive lines  under  proper  engineering  supervision. 

From  official  returns,  accurately  compiled  by  the  highway  depart- 
ment, it  developed  that  form  January  1,  1909,  to  November  1,  1911, 
a  period  of  two  years  and  ten  months,  upward  of  $9,079,000  was 
spent  on  the  roads  and  streets  of  the  parishes  and  municipalities, 
within  the  State,  out  of  this  generous  expenditure  little  or  no  perman- 
ent work  resulted,  save  in  some  of  the  municipalities,  where  competent 
city  engineers  directed  the  work.  The  rest  was  absolutely  wasted 
except  in  so  far  as  the  worst  places  were  made  passable  for  light  loads 
most  of  the  time. 

Out  of  the  scant  revenues  of  the  first  year,  the  highway  department 
has  succeeded  in  placingunder  contract  151  miles  of  State  aid  improved 
highways,  estimated  to  cost,  approximately,  $275,000.00;  besides 
contributing  the  equivalent,  in  State  convict  work,  to  approximately 
132  miles  of  improved  road  at  a  cost,  to  the  parishes,  of  $130,678.45. 
Besides  this,  at  least,  one  more  contract  for  nine  and  one-half  miles  of 
shell  road  to  cost  perhaps  $45,000  will  be  let  this  year,  bringing  the 
total  State  aid  work  up  to  a  grand  total  of  292J  miles  of  improved  roads 
at  a  cost  of  approximately  $405,000 . 00. 

Out  of  the  292|  miles  of  road,  some  50  miles  are  metal  surfaced  with 
either  gravel  or  shells. 

The  act  creating  the  highway  department  is  considered  to  be  a 
model  of  State  road  laws.  It  not  only  creates  the  department,  but 
provides  the  department  with  funds  with  which  to  operate  and  with 
which  to  lend  State  aid,  and  bestows  upon.the  department  such  powers 
and  privileges  as  render  the  whole  system  unique  and  effective.  Not 
only  does  the  department  build  and  improve,  but  it  maintains  after- 
wards. It  shares  the  cost  of  maintenance  and  construction  with  the 
parish  or  community  to  which  State  aid  is  rendered. 

One  of  the  most  effective  and  interesting  features  of  this  act  is  the 
use  of  the  State  convicts.  With  us,  the  greater  part  of  State  convicts 
are  negroes,  who,  when  properly  controlled,  make  the  finest  laborers 
on  earth.  They  are  treated  with  every  consideration,  well  fed, 
clothed  and  groomed,  are  made  to  keep  regular  hours  and  to  observe 
all  hygienic  laws  and  regulations. 

The  penitentiary  laws  of  the  State  are  models  of  their  kind,  and 
permit  the  use  of  the  convicts  on  the  levees  and  the  roads,  but  always 
under  the  care  and  supervision  of  the  board  of  control,  a  State  insti- 


180  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

tution.  Those  not  necessary  on  the  farms  and  plantation  owned  by 
the  State  and  operated  by  the  board  of  control,  are  sent  to  work  on 
the  public  levees  and  roads.  ^  While  at  work  on  the  levees,  they  earn 
revenues  for  the  board  of  control,  as  the  work  is  done  under  contract 
at  an  agreed  price  per  cubic  yard.  However,  they  earn  absolutely 
nothing  for  the  board  of  control  when  at  work  upon  the  roads.  The 
entire  expense  of  their  maintenance,  while  road  building,  is  paid  by 
the  parish  employing  them,  however;  so,  with  the  gratis  services  of 
the  engineer  corps  of  the  highway  department  thrown  in,  the  parishes 
have  an  excellent  form  of  State  aid  over  and  above  that  secured  in 
a  monetary  way. 

All  monetary  aid  the  cost  of  which  exceeds  $2,000  in  amount,  is 
required  to  be  advertised  and  let  to  the  lowest  bidder,  and  the  State 
furnishes  surveys,  plans,  specifications  and  superintendence,  as  well 
as  a  pro  rata  of  the  cost.  The  law  sets  forth  that,  in  whatever  amount 
the  State  renders  aid,  the  parish  must  contribute  not  less  than  an 
equal  share.  By  agreement,  however,  the  share  contributed  by  the 
parish  may  exceed  the  amount  of  State  aid  to  any  extent  within  the 
limit  of  its  resources. 

The  one-quarter  of  a  mill  ad  valorem  tax,  which  is  levied  on  all 
the  assessed  property  in  the  State,  yields  a  net  sum  of  only  about 
$110,000;  but,  with  sentiment  growing  all  the  time,  more  revenues  will 
surely  be  needed  and  forthcoming  within  the  near  future,  and  the 
department  is  hard  at  work  now  upon  new  measures  looking  to  the 
enlargement  of  the  State  highway  fund. 

It  was  at  first  not  supposed  that  our  State  was  favored  with  an 
abundant  supply  of  natural  road  surfacing  material,  but,  since  creat- 
ing the  demand,  a  goodly  amount  of  material  has  been  brought  to 
light.  There  is  a  liberal  amount  of  concreting  and  washed  gravel, 
and  of  both  oyster  and  clam  shells,  which  should  answer  the  purpose 
very  well  for  some  time  to  come,  and  several  quarries  of  fairly  good 
lime  stone  and  some  sand  stone,  are  found  in  North  Louisiana;  but, 
owing  to  inaccessibility,  our  main  dependence  for  rural  highways 
will,  necessarily,  be  the  sand  clay  construction,  which  is  easily  the 
most  economical  and  useful  road  now  available  to  us. 

We  have  an  unusually  great  rainfall  to  contend  with,  but,  on  the 
other  hand,  are  not  bothered  with  severe  frosts  and  their  consequent 
damage  to  earth  roads.  With  the  drainage  of  the  roads  well  designed 
and  maintained,  and  the  proper  use  of  drags,  our  Louisiana  earth 
highway  will  be  dependable  practically  the  year  round,  and  should 


THE   VIRGINIA   CONVICT   LABOR   LAW  181 

prove  an  incentive  to  the  early  and  complete  development  of  every 
section  of  the  State. 

As  stated  above,  our  State  has  received  substantial  federal  aid  for 
its  levee  systems,  without  which  we  would  probably  still  be  largely 
subjected  to  annual  inundation,  and  while  we  fully  appreciate  what 
has  been  done  for  us  in  that  direction,  we  also  appreciate  the  fact  that 
the  same  class  of  aid  will,  in  its  turn,  do  an  equal,  if  not  greater,  amount 
of  good  when  devoted  to  the  drainage  and  highway  development  of 
our  State.  The  State  of  Louisiana,  therefore,  takes  seriously  to  heart, 
the  Nation  wide  movement  looking  towards  federal  aid  to  interstate 
highways,  and,  if  such  aid  is  secured  upon  the  usual  basis  of  helping 
those  who  help  themselves,  Louisiana  promises  generous  cooperation. 

THE  VIRGINIA  CONVICT  LABOR  LAW 

CHARLES  T.  LASSITER 
State  Senator  and  President  of  the  Virginia  Good  Roads  Association 

The  grand  old  State  of  North  Carolina  has  much  in  its  history  to 
justify  the  loyalty  of  her  sons.  That  loyalty  is  based  upon  so  many 
things  which  are  true  that  it  is  really  unnecessary  to  draw  upon  the 
realms  of  fancy  in  making  claims  for  the  honor  of  the  State. 

So  far  as  I  know,  North  Carolina  was  certainly  first  among  the 
States  to  devise  a  practical  and  humane  method  of  employing  her 
prison  population  in  the  building  of  improved  roads.  In  that  State 
the  cities  are  parts  of  the  counties  for  purposes  of  taxation,  while  in 
Virginia  the  cities  are  separate  governmental  entities.  For  this  reason 
it  was  not  practicable  for  us  to  adopt  the  North  Carolina  plan  as  a 
whole,  and  the  present  law  in  Virgina  is  an  adaptation  of  the  New 
Jersey  and  North  Carolina  systems  of  State  aid  for  roads. 

It  frequently  happens  that  an  eclectic  system,  which  has  frankly 
adopted  the  best  in  other  plans,  is  able  to  present  an  improvement  on 
its  own  originals,  at  least  for  the  purposes  of  those  who  have  taken 
the  trouble  to  cull  the  best  ideas  of  others,  as  the  bees  cull  honey 
from  the  choicest  flowers. 

Lawyers  tell  us,  "the  reason  of  the  law  is  the  life  of  the  law." 
The  reason  for  this  law  in  Virginia  grew  first  out  of  the  fact,  recog- 
nized by  the  law  makers,  that  it  was  essentially  unjust  to  place  the 
whole  burden  of  building  and  maintaining  roads  upon  the  rural  com- 
munities through  which  they  run,  without  requiring  urban  communi- 


182  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

ties,  at  least  equally  benefitted,  to  share  in  the  burden.  In  the  second 
place,  it  was  found  that  the  money  revenues  of  the  State,  available 
for  this  purpose  were  so  small  that  practically  nothing  could  be  done 
in  this  way.  There  remained,  however,  a  comparatively  large  prison 
population,  supported  by  the  tax-payers  of  the  whole  State,  and  at 
least  half  of  them  (the  jail  convicts)  were  being  kept  in  idleness— 
practically  attending  schools  for  crime.  This  condition  of  affairs 
existed,  coincidently  with  a  great  scarcity  of  agricultural  labor,  and 
it  was  believed  that  in  no  other  way  could  the  State  so  acceptably  aid 
the  building  of  public  county  roads  as  by  furnishing  an  organized 
force  of  laborers  (clothed,  fed  and  guarded  by  officers  of  the  State) 
to  use  the  tools,  teams,  and  materials  furnished  by  the  counties. 

The  situation  in  many  other  States  is  probably  the  same  as  it  is 
in  Virginia,  and  it  may  be  of  interest  to  explain  the  present  plan  in 
this  State,  which  is  not  merely  a  law  for  building  improved  roads, 
but  we  claim  that  it  has  the  merit  of  being  at  least  one  of  the  best 
methods  of  humane  penal  reform  in  operation  in  the  United  States 
today. 

It  rarely  happens  that  any  law  capable  of  practical  application  to 
the  affairs  of  men  is  the  unaided  work  of  any  one  man,  but  an  exami- 
nation of  its  history  will  show  that,  like  most  other  things  in  God's 
universe,  it  is  the  product  of  a  process  of  evolution  which  long  ante- 
dated its  actual  enactment. 

It  should  be  glory  enough  for  any  of  us  to  be  able  to  say  truthfully 
that  we  have  aided  in  the  accomplishment  of  great  reforms,  which 
have  proven  of  benefit  to  the  people.  This  "First  Good  Roads  Con- 
gress under  the  auspices  of  the  American  Association  for  Highway 
Improvement, "  is  itself  the  heir  of  all  that  has  gone  before  in  the  way 
of  similar  movements,  and  would  not  be  possible  but  for  the  patriot- 
ism and  devotion  of  many  who  cannot  be  here  now  to  aid  in  its  delib- 
erations. 

In  order  to  understand  the  Virginia  plan  for  the  employment  of 
convicts  in  road  building,  it  is  essential  to  know  something  of  the 
history  of  the  movement  which  obtained  its  first  fruits  in  the  Virginia 
act  of  1906,  which  created  the  State  highway  commission  and  the 
State  convict  road  force. 

I  think  it  may  be  truly  said  that  the  Luther  of  road  reform  in  Vir- 
ginia was  the  late  Joseph  Bryan,  owner  and  editor  of  the  Richmond 
Times,  which  afterwards  became  the  Times-Dispatch.  In  1893, 
when  the  roads  in  Virginia  were  as  bad  as  they  had  been  just  after 


THE    VIRGINIA    CONVICT   LABOR   LAW  183 

the  war  between  the  States  and  when  there  seemed  almost  no  chance 
of  enlisting  popular  interest  in  their  improvement,  it  was  largely 
through  the  influence  of  Mr.  Bryan  that  the  first  good  roads  conven- 
tion met  in  Richmond  and  organized  the  Virginia  Good  Roads  Asso- 
ciation. A  great  part  of  the  work  of  the  parent  organization  was 
accomplished  by  its  secretary,  Mr.  Henry  W.  Anderson,  now  one  of 
the  leaders  of  the  Richmond  bar.  He  was  the  Melanchthon  of  this 
reform  as  Mr.  Bryan  was  its  Luther. 

At  that  time,  under  these  leaders,  it  was  my  fortune  to  become  inter- 
ested in  the  problem  of  better  roads,  and  I  was  one  of  the  vice-presi- 
dents of  the  organization  during  the  time  that  it  existed.  Many  of 
us  were  then  occupied  with  the  idea  of  putting  the  convicts  to  work 
on  roads.  Unfortunately  for  our  plans,  it  was  about  this  time  that 
the  existing  authorities  executed  a  contract  to  hire  from  800  to  1000 
of  the  able-bodied  prisoners  at  the  penitentiary  to  a  shoe  company 
for  a  further  period  of  ten  years.  That  contract  will  not  expire  until 
1913.  Many  efforts  were  made  to  evolve  a  plan  by  which  the  roads 
of  the  State  might  obtain  some  of  this  convict  labor,  but  they  resulted 
in  just  so  many  failures.  This  was  due  in  part  to  the  great  influence 
exercised  by  the  lobby  for  the  shoe  company,  and  in  part  to  the  fact 
that  the  plan  had  not  been  sufficiently  perfected. 

It  should  be  remembered,  at  least  by  all  good  roads  advocates  in 
this  State,  that  it  was  due  to  the  efforts  of  Hon.  J.  Thompson  Brown, 
of  Bedford  County,  that  the  constitution  of  1902,  by  affirmative 
enactment,  makes  possible  the  granting  of  State  aid  to  roads. 

The  years  from  1893  to  1906,  while  barren  of  legislative  accomplish- 
ment, were  at  least  productive  of  much  study  and  thought  on  the  part 
of  good  roads  advocates.  Much  missionary  work  had  to  be  done,  and 
it  was  due  to  the  aid  of  the  newspapers  of  the  State  and  to  The  Travel- 
lers Protective  Association  that  a  sufficient  majority  was  at  length 
obtained  in  the  General  Assembly  to  enact  the  companion  acts  of 
1906. 

While  Hon.  Robert  W.  Withers,  of  Suffolk,  and  myself  were  joint 
patrons  of  what  have  since  been  called  the  Lassiter- Withers  acts,  it 
is  of  course  evident,  from  what  I  have  said,  that  the  final  success  of 
the  law  was  due  rather  to  the  work  which  all  of  us  had  previously 
done  to  educate  the  voters  than  to  the  fact  that  we  had  actually 
prepared  and  supported  the  necessary  bills  in  the  house  and  senate. 
I  think  we  may  claim  as  original,  however,  that  portion  of  the  convict 
road  force  act,  which  made  it  possible  to  put  some  of  the  prisoners 


184  AMERICAN   ROAD    CONGRESS 

to  work  on  the  roads,  notwithstanding  the  shoe  contract  of  1893.  In 
order  to  accomplish  this  result  our  bill  changed  the  criminal  laws, 
so  as  to  provide  that  certain  classes  of  felons  might  be  sentenced  to 
the  roads,  instead  of  being  sentenced  to  the  penitentiary.  There 
never  has  been  any  question  that  the  State  had  a  legal  and  moral 
right  to  change  its  methods  of  punishing  criminals.  The  shoe  con- 
tract makes  a  certain  number  of  those  sentenced  to  the  penitentiary 
subject  to  its  provisions. 

The  law  of  1906  was  to  a  large  extent  experimental,  but  the  experi- 
ment has  been  justified  in  actual  operation  for  five  years.  This 
would  not  have  been  true,  in  all  probability,  but  for  the  earnest  and 
patriotic  work  of  two  men  who  were  made  responsible  for  putting 
the  law  into  operation.  The  first  was  Captain  P.  St.  Julian  Wilson, 
our  first  and  only  State  highway  commissioner,  and  the  second  was  the 
late  Major  Morgan,  until  his  recent  death,  the  efficient  superintendent 
of  the  penitentiary.  These  men  had  under  them  other  capable  and 
devoted  men,  who  have  nobly  done  their  parts  in  the  work  of  reclaim- 
ing the  roads  of  Virginia  from  conditions  which  had  existed  for  three 
hundred  years.  One  of  the  great  merits,  which  we  have  always 
claimed  for  these  acts,  was  that  they  avoid  a  multiplicity  of  conflict- 
ing directions  and  restrictions — they  were  intended  to  create  a  new 
department  of  government,  to  invest  certain  officers  with  necessary 
powers  and  then  to  leave  to  them,  in  large  measure,  the  execution  of 
those  powers.  Results  have  justified  our  confidence,  because  we 
were  fortunate  enough  to  have  men  of  high  character  and  splendid 
training,  coupled  with  the  devotion  of  soldiers  on  the  field  of  battle, 
to  breathe  into  the  dry  bones  of  our  laws  the  breath  of  life. 

While  the  act  of  1906  was  experimental,  it  was  so  successful  in 
operation  that  its  provisions  were  enlarged  in  1908  to  include  a  still 
larger  class  of  prisoners  and,  because  it  was  not  then  possible  to  grant 
the  aid  of  convicts  to  all  of  the  100  counties  in  the  State,  an  act  was 
passed  granting  State-money-aid  to  those  counties,  which  were  unable 
to  secure  a  convict  road  force. 

The  patrons  of  this  bill  were  Judge  Sims,  of  Louisa,  in  the 
senate,  and  Colonel  Bowman,  of  Roanoke,  in  the  house.  With  the 
active  aid  of  Governor  Swanson  this  bill  became  law.  It  was  under- 
stood to  be  ancillary  to  the  system  of  granting  convict-labor-aid  to 
the  counties,  and  the  purpose  of  its  enactment  will  have  been  served 
when  the  shoe-contract  expires. 

I  have  taken  the  time  to  explain  the  history  of  these  statutes, 


THE    VIRGINIA   CONVICT   LABOR   LAW  185 

because  I  am  convinced  that  the  next  step  in  the  logical  evolution  of 
good-roads  laws  in  Virginia  should  be  one  of  very  general  interest  to 
the  other  States  of  the  Union.  I  believe  that  the  enactment  of  this 
next  step  will  not  only  be  the  logical  consequence  of  the  successful 
operation  of  our  system  of  employing  convicts  on  roads,  but  that  it 
will  blaze  the  way  for  other  States,  now  seeking  a  practical  and  econom- 
ical plan  of  road  improvement,  to  follow,  and  profit  by,  the  result  of 
our  experiments. 

It  seems  to  me  that  prior  to  the  expiration  of  the  shoe  contract, 
the  legislature  of  1912  should  provide  for  the  employment  of  the 
greater  number  of  the  felon  prisoners  on  the  roads  and  in  making  road 
material  and  agricultural  lime.  If  this  be  done,  the  State  will  no 
longer  need  the  highly  valuable  city  property  now  occupied  by  the 
penitentiary  in  Richmond.  It  is  estimated  that  this  property  is 
worth  about  $500,000 .  If  it  were  sold,  it  would  soon  become  a  com- 
ponent part  of  the  pulsing  business  life  of  our  beautiful  capital  city. 
It  would  pay  taxes  to  the  State  and  to  the  city. 

The  proceeds,  in  my  judgment,  should  be  used  in  the  establish- 
ment of  a  prison  farm  in  each  one  of  the  ten  congressional  districts. 
The  constitution  requires  a  penitentiary,  but  as  we  would  not  need 
a  very  large  prison,  the  new  penitentiary  could  be  built  upon  the  present 
State  prison  farm  in  Goochland,  or  could  be  located  in  some  other 
district  somewhere  near  the  geographical  center  of  the  State.  In 
the  penitenitary  there  would  be  confined  the  long  term  and  dangerous 
prisoners,  whose  duty  it  would  be  to  make  shoes,  clothes  and  other 
supplies  for  themselves  and  the  men  on  the  roads.  Their  number, 
I  find  from  an  analysis  of  the  printed  reports  of  the  penitentiary, 
would  be  comparatively  small.  The  old  men,  women  and  children 
should  be  employed  on  the  farms  in  producing  food  for  themselves 
and  for  the  other  prisoners.  In  this  way  a  force  of  about  1400  able- 
bodied  laborers,  of  an  average  age  of  twenty-five  years  would  be 
available  from  our  felon  population  for  work  on  the  roads,  in  stockades 
making  road  material  and  agricultural  lime. 

This  system  would  not  be  complete,  however,  without  a  reformation 
of  the  jails.  There  are  today  in  Virginia  2000  misdemeanor  prisoners 
lying  in  jail  in  idleness,  at  the  great  expense  of  the  tax-payers. 

It  should  be  a  governmental  axiom  that  no  person  be  kept  in  jail 
after  conviction.  The  jails  should  be  used  only  for  persons  awaiting 
trial  in  the  absence  of  bail.  After  conviction,  the  misdemeanor 
prisoners,  who  are  like-wise  State  prisoners,  should  be  sent  at  once 


186  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

to  the  district  prisons.  These  prison  farms,  except  for  those  selected 
for  work  on  the  farm,  should  be  merely  depots  for  the  reception  and 
distribution  of  prisoners  to  the  different  forces  at  work  on  the  roads. 
Some  way  can  no  doubt  be  devised,  as  under  the  present  system, 
of  segregating  felon  convicts  into  one  force  and  misdemeanor  convicts 
into  another.  In  this  way  there  can  be  made  available  in  1913  a 
force  of  from  2500  to  3000  able  bodied  men  to  work  on  our  roads. 
It  would  no  longer  be  necessary  to  appropriate  $250,000  a  year  for 
State-money-aid,  nor  $150,000  a  year  for  support  of  prisoners  in  jails. 
A  comparatively  small  addition  to  these  sums  already  appropriated 
would  be  enough  to  take  care  of  our  entire  prison  population,  who 
would  all  be  at  work  creating  values  for  the  tax-payers.  Politicians 
stand  very  much  in  awe  of  the  power  of  organized  labor,  and  may  fear 
to  support  this  proposition  on  that  account.  I  have  so  much  confidence 
in  the  intelligence  and  patriotism  of  the  honest  working-men  of  our 
country  that,  I  believe  they  will  cordially  endorse  this  plan  of  penal 
reform,  because  it  will  take  prison  labor  practically  out  of  competition 
with  any  form  of  organized  labor,  and  will  so  greatly  increase  the  wealth 
of  the  country  that  honest  labor  will  benefit  thereby  in  proportion 
to  the  benefits  conferred  upon  the  rest  of  society. 

I  am  speaking  of  the  Virginia  plan  of  using  convicts  on  roads, 
because  I  have  been  familiar  with  it  since  its  inception.  It  seems 
to  me  that  it  offers  to  all  the  States  a  solution  of  our  present  difficulties, 
which  is  already  within  the  power  of  each  State,  without  waiting  for 
the  advent  of  federal  aid,  which  no  doubt  will  come  in  the  long  run, 
but  which  is  not  yet  available  in  our  fight  against  the  mud  tax.  I  am 
in  favor  of  federal  aid  to  post  roads,  as  aid,  but  I  am  always  opposed 
to  waiting  for  someone  else,  when  we  can  at  least  begin  to  work-out 
our  own  salvation.  If  the  number  of  the  prison  population  in  each 
State  is  in  proportion  to  the  prison  population  of  Virginia,  it  seems  to 
me  we  have  a  tool  ready  to  our  hands  with  which  to  begin  this  vast 
undertaking.  I  believe  it  to  be  true  that  no  great  system  of  roads 
was  ever  inaugurated  without  some  form  of  forced  labor.  Under 
humane  and  modern  methods  this  may  be  made  a  blessing  for  the 
laborer  as  well  as  for  the  society  whose  laws  he  has  violated.  The 
experience  of  Virginia  has  been  that  the  prisoners  engaged  in  road 
work  have  uniformly  improved  in  physical  health,  and  many  have 
gained  a  better  moral  tone.  Upon  the  expiration  of  their  terms, 
many  are  employed  by  the  farmers,  who  are  glad  to  avail  themselves 
of  trained,  and  therefore  efficient,  labor.  Permit  me  to  say  in  closing 


RESOLUTIONS  187 

that  one  of  the  most  far-sighted  public  men  of  the  Senate  of  Virginia 
of  1906  was  Mr.  Henry  Wickham,  the  chairman  of  our  finance  commit- 
tee. Mr.  Wickham  was  opposed  to  our  road  bill,  and  I  made  many 
efforts  to  convert  him.  One  day  he  said  to  me,  "Lassiter,  I  have 
only  one  objection  to  your  bill,  and  that  is  that  it  will  work,  and,  after 
you  have  shown  the  people  that  it  will  work,  you  will  come  back  here 
and  want  a  great  deal  more  money."  It  is  needless  to  say  that  his 
forebodings  were  entirely  justified  in  the  result,  but  it  is  fair  to  say 
that  the  wealth  of  the  State  has  increased  more  than  the  demands 
we  have  made  on  her  treasury  for  roads,  and  I  believe  the  same  will 
be  true  so  long  as  we  continue  to  develop  our  present  methods  of 
penal  reform. 

RESOLUTIONS  AS   PRESENTED  AND  PASSED  BY  THE 

COMMITTEE  ON  RESOLUTIONS  OF  THE 

AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

RICHMOND,  VA.,  NOVEMBER  20-23,  1911 

1.  Whereas  it  has  been  the  policy  of  our  central  government  to  aid 
in  the  development  of  our  national  resources,  and  to  this  end  it  has 
appropriated  and  is  appropriating  public  funds  to  meet  the  needs  of 
the  postal  service,  of  agriculture  and  commerce,  and  of  public  defense; 

Therefore  be  it  resolved:  That  this  Congress  hereby  respectfully 
memorialize  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  to  extend  national 
aid  to  the  several  States  of  the  Union  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  and 
encouraging  them  to  build  and  maintain  good  roads; 

And  that  the  chairman  of  this  Congress  appoint  a  committee  on 
national  highway  legislation  to  be  composed  of  one  member  and  alter- 
nate for  each  State  and  territory.  Said  member  to  be  named  by  the 
delegation  from  that  State  at  this  Congress;  and  that  said  committee 
request  the  cooperation  of  similar  committees  of  all  the  other  organi- 
zations to  assist  them  to  harmonize  the  diversified  opinions  of  the 
various  interests  now  working  for  national  aid,  and  endeavor  to  estab- 
lish an  agreement  upon  a  unified  plan  that  may  receive  the  endorse- 
ment and  support  of  this  Association  and  all  others  working  for  the 
establishment  of  the  principle  of  national  aid  in  the  policies  of  our 
government. 

2.  Whereas  the  highest  degree  of  efficiency  in  road  construction  yet 
employed  still  leaves  the  question  of  maintenance  the  most  important 
and  serious  question  in  the  road  problem,  and 


188  AMERICAN  ROAD  CONGRESS 

Whereas  this  question  of  maintenance  of  public  roads  has  not  been 
given  the  careful  consideration  that  it  deserves,  therefore 

Be  it  Resolved,  That  this  Congress  most  earnestly  urges  upon  all 
road  authorities  their  immediate,  continuous  and  careful  attention 
to  this  most  important  subject;  and  that  no  appropriation  for  con- 
struction should  ever  be  made  without  proper  provision  for  their 
after  maintenance. 

3.  Whereas  a  large  number  of  the  States  have  made  special  appro- 
priations for  assisting  the  counties  in  building  roads  and  are  construct- 
ing and  maintaining  these  roads  through  a  State  highway  depart- 
ment and  that  this  method  has  been  found  the  most  efficient  to  give 
a  State  a  good  system  of  roads : 

Be  it  Resolved,  That  we  recommend  to  the  various  States  not  already 
provided  therewith,  the  adoption  of  legislation,  providing  for  State 
supervision  of  at  least  the  main  highways  of  the  State,  through  a 
State  highway  department,  and  for  State  aid  in  the  building  and 
maintenance  of  such  roads,  by  the  making  of  liberal  appropriations, 
raised  by  direct  taxation  or  the  issuance  of  bonds,  as  the  best  plan 
yet  devised  to  promote  and  secure  an  efficient  system  of  highways 
for  a  State,  and  at  the  same  time  uniformity  in  road  legislation  between 
the  various  States. 

4.  Resolved,  It  is  the  opinion  of  this  Congress,  that  in  order  to 
secure  desired  results  in  road  work  most  quickly  and  most  efficiently, 
the  work  of  both  construction  and  maintenance  of  all  public  highways 
of  any  locality  or  State  should  be  under  the  direction  of  experienced 
highway  engineers  and  that  such  engineers  should  be  given  all  the 
authority  necessary  to  justify  holding  them  fully  responsible  for  the 
results  of  the  work. 

5.  Resolved,  That  this  Congress  emphatically  recommends  the  en- 
actment of  proper  laws  by  all  the  States  providing  for  the  employ- 
ment of  prison  labor  in  the  improvement  of  the  public  highways. 

6.  Resolved,  That  this  Congress  heartily  commends  the  work  of 
the  Department  of  Agriculture  for  the  betterment  of  the  public  roads 
of  this  country. 

7.  Resolved,  That  this  Congress  extends  its  thanks  to  President 
Taft  for  his  telegram  to  this  Congress  favoring  road  betterment  and 
regrets  his  inability  through  illness  to  attend. 

8.  Whereas  the  selection  of  the  meeting  place  of  the  Congress  is 
according  to  the  constitution  of  the  Association  left  to  the  board  of 
directors,  this  Congress  recommends  that  the  board  of  directors 


RESOLUTIONS  189 

select  for  the  next  meeeting  place  some  convenient  point  in  a  different 
section  of  the  country  from  the  present  meeting  place,  in  order  that 
from  time  to  time  the  Congress  may  be  held  in  the  several  sections 
of  the  country. 

9.  Resolved,  That  the  sincere  thanks  of  this  Congress  be  extended 
to  the  State  of  Virginia,  the  City  of  Richmond,  its  civic  asssociations, 
automobile  and  other  clubs  and  hotels  for  their  genuine  hospitality 
and  entertainment  of  the  members  and  guests  in  attendance  upon 
the  Congress;  and  especially  does  the  Congress  acknowledge  its  appre- 
ciation of  the  energy  and  courtesy  of  the  Press  for  their  comprehen- 
sive reports;  and  we  further  acknowledge  our  obligations  to  the  several 
railway  companies  for  the  reduced  rates  extended  to  those  attending 
the  Congress. 

Whereas,  the  safety  of  the  public  is  of  primary  importance,  and  the 
driving  of  vehicles  at  night  is  attended  by  dangers  which  should  be 
reduced  to  a  minimum. 

Now,  therefore,  be  it  further  resolved,  That  it  is  the  sense  of  this  Con- 
gress that  from  sunset  to  sunrise,  all  vehicles  should  carry  at  least  one 
lighted  lamp  of  sufficient  candle-power  to  be  visible  at  a  distance  of 
200  feet,  so  placed  as  to  be  seen  from  the  front  and  left  side,  and  a 
red  light  visible  in  the  reverse  direction,  and 

Be  it  further  resolved,  That  the  use  in  cities  and  villages  of  non- 
dazzling  headlights  on  all  vehicles  should  be  required  by  law,  wherever 
the  streets  are  adequately  lighted,  and 

Whereas  the  highways  within  the  confines  of  cities,  towns  and 
villages,  as  well  as  in  the  open  country,  are  dedicated  to  the  public 
use, 

Now,  therefore,  be  it  resolved,  That  all  users  of  said  highways  should 
have  due  regard  for  the  rights  of  other  users,  the  pedestrian  for  the 
rights  of  drivers  of  horse-drawn  vehicles,  the  drivers  of  horse-drawn 
vehicles  for  the  rights  of  the  drivers  of  motor  vehicles,  the  drivers 
of  motor  vehicles  for  the  rights  of  cyclists,  the  cylists  for  the  rights  of 
equestrians,  and  one  and  all  for  the  rights  of  each  of  the  others :  and 

Be  it  further  resolved,  That  the  use  of  the  muffler  cut-out  in  thickly 
settled  sections  and  in  cities  should  be  discontinued,  and 

Be  it  further  resolved,  That  the  unnecessary  use  of  warning  signals 
should  be  avoided,  and  that  an  adequate  warning  signal  should 
produce  an  abrupt  sound,  sufficiently  loud  to  be  heard  under  all  con- 
ditions of  traffic  and  that  its  use  except  as  a  warning  of  danger  should 
be  prohibited  by  law,  and 


190  AMERICAN  ROAD   CONGRESS 

Be  it  further  resolved,  That  in  cities,  village  and  towns,  slow  moving 
vehicles  should  be  required  to  drive  close  to  the  curb,  in  order  that  the 
faster  moving  vehicles  may  pass  in  the  center  of  the  throughfare; 
and 

Be  it  further  resolved,  That,  in  view  of  4he  fact  that  the  motor  vehicle 
is  used  for  interstate  communication,  frequently  passing  through  two 
or  more  States  during  a  single  day,  uniform  speed  regulations  should 
be  adopted  by  all  States,  and  local  authorities,  such  as  cities,  villages, 
and  towns,  should  be  prohibited  from  fixing  local  speed  regulations ; 
and 

.Be  it  further  resolved,  That  in  view  of  the  rapid  development  of 
commercial  motor  trucks  for  intercity  use,  the  public  authorities 
charged  with  the  duty  of  building  and  maintaining  bridges  should 
be  required  periodically  to  inspect  all  bridges  under  their  jurisdiction 
and  post  conspicuously  thereon  the  wheel  load  they  are  capable  of 
sustaining;  and 

Be  it  further  resolved,  That,  in  view  of  the  unprecedented  growth 
of  interstate  and  intercity  traffic  for  commercial  purposes,  a  system- 
atic and  adequate  placarding  of  roads  by  sign  boards  giving  directions 
as  to  towns  and  distances  should  be  required  by  law,  and  such  laws 
strictly  enforced. 


TREASURER'S  STATEMENT 

JUNE  30,  1912. 
Total  receipts  from  December  1,  1910,  to  June  30,  1912,  inclusive..  $22,598.36 

Total  disbursements  to  secretary  during  same  period 21,040.48 

Balance  in  hands  of  treasurer $1,557.88 

LEE  McCLUNG,  Treasurer. 


SECRETARY'S  STATEMENT 


RECEIPTS 

Amounts  received  by  secretary  and 
transmitted  to  treasurer  from  Decem- 
ber 1, 1910,  to  June  30, 1912,  as  follows: 

1256  regular  memberships 

and  renewals  at  $5 $6,280.00 

79    sustaining   member- 
ships and  renewals  at  $100    7,900.00 

Contributions 6,157 . 16 

Receipts  from  sale  of  Year 
Book 483.20* 

Receipts  from  Year  Book 

advertisements $l,162.00f 

Contribution  to  Richmond 
convention  through  man- 
ufacturers committee  ...  615.00 

Overpayment  in  regular 
membership  dues  by 
John  S.  Beall,  refunded 
in  cash. . 


1.00 
$22,598.36 


Interest      on      secretary's 
bank  account 


1.61 


Total  receipts $22,599.97 


JUNE  30,  1912. 
EXPENDITURES 

Salaries $11,184.10 

Temporary  assistance 787.50 

Traveling  expenses 3,227 . 87 

Rent 1,245.00 

Office  equipment 312 . 08 

Office  supplies 73 . 73 

Stationery,  printing,  en- 
graving and  multigraph- 

ing 1,614.38 

Press  clippings 148 . 19 

Postage 1,422.68 

Telephone 135.28 

Telegraph 95.39 

Express 21.95 

Membership  International 
Association  of  Road  Con- 
gresses   19.57 

Rental  of  typewriters 53 . 50 

Convention  badges 185 . 10 

Speakers'  expenses  Amer- 
ican Road  Congress 

Richmond,  Virginia 71 . 87 

500  copies  Saturday  Eve- 
ning Post 25.00 

Miscellaneous  expenses . . .  254 . 28 

Total  expenditures $20,877.45 

Balance     in     secretary's 

/in  bank 135.84 

'\  petty  cash 28.80 

$21,042.09 

Balance    in    treasurer's 

hands 1,557.88 


hands ; 


$22,599.97 


*  Copy  of  Year  Book  sent  free  to  each  member.    Book  was  placed  on  sale  June  12,  1912. 
t  The  total  paid  or  due  from  advertisers  was  $38 16.00. 

191 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  5O  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $1.OO  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


LIBRARY,  BRANCH  OP  THE  COLLEGE  OF  AGRICULTURE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  5m-8,'37(s) 


24545. 


American  i  oad  congress 


A5 


1st.  Richmond,   1911. 


1911 


Papers 


addresses  anc 


resolutior s 


PHYSICAL 


SCIENCES 


PHYSICAL 

SCIENCES 
LIBRARY 


TE5 

^  5 


OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


3  1175  00472  2685 


